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A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS. Being a Col- 
lection of Codes, Precepts, and Rules of Life from the 
Wise of all Ages. Edited, with an Introductory Essay 
on the Ancient and Modern Knowledge of Good and 
Evil, by J. N. Larned. Crown 8vo, $2.00, net. 

A HISTORY OF ENGLAND FOR THE USE OF 

SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. With Topical Ana- 
lyses, Research Questions, and Bibliographical Notes. 
With 18 Maps and 150 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, half 
leather, $1.25, net. 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY 

Boston and New York 



A MULTITUDE OF 
COUNSELLORS 



BEING A COLLECTION OF CODES, PRECEPTS 

AND RULES OF LIFE FROM THE 

WISE OF ALL AGES 



EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON 

THE ANCIENT AND MODERN KNOWLEDGE 

OF GOOD AND EVIL, BY 

J. N. LARNED 

h 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

($fce Jftitoerjsi&e pre#, Cambridge 

1901 

V 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copit6 Received 

OCT. 3 1901 

Copyright entry 

(9a. 3, iqot 

CLASS Os XXc. No. 

copy a. 






COPYRIGHT, 190I, BY J. N. LARNED 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



Published October, 1901 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Thanks are due to the following-named gentlemen for 
permission kindly given to use selections from certain 
translations and texts, each of which is specified in its 
place as it appears : — 

Rev. Drummond P. Chase, M. A., D. D., London ; 
Prof. Robert K. Douglas, London ; Dr. F. J. Furnivall, 
London, for the Early English Text Society; Thomas 
Bailey Saunders, M. A., British Museum ; Messrs. Swan 
Sonnenschein & Co., London ; and James Thornton, Esq., 
Oxford. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY " ON THE ANCIENT AND MODERN 

KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL," BY THE EDITOR ... 1 
i PRECEPTS OF PTAH-HOTEP, THE EGYPTIAN ; FROM " THE 

OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD " 32 

THE DECALOGUE, OR TEN COMMANDMENTS 41 

FURTHER MOSAIC COMMANDMENTS, FROM THE BOOK OF LEVIT- 
ICUS 44 

the fifteenth psalm 46 

precepts selected from the book of proverbs .... 47 

precepts selected from ecclesiastes 58 

^precepts selected from the hindu code of manu . . 64 

hesiod's advice to perses ; from " works and days " . 71 
" the seven wise men of greece ; " greek epigram, 

translated by lord neaves 76 

the eight precepts and ten commandments of buddhism 77 

the buddhist beatitudes 79 

precepts selected from the dhammapada (one of the 

sacred books of the buddhist canon) 82 

the golden verses of pythagoras 85 

the pythagoric sentences of demophilus 90 

precepts selected from the maha-bharata (the great 

hindu epic) 95 

precepts selected from confucius 99 

precepts selected from "the story of ahikar " . . . 103 
precepts selected from the " nichomachean ethics " of 

aristotle 106 - 

precepts selected from ecclesiasticus (the wisdom of 

jesus the son of sirach) 113 

cicero on the good that makes life happy 126 — "~ 

Christ's sermon on the mount 130 

seneca's rules for a happy life ... - 137 

martial's ideal of a happy life, with five transla- 
tions 143 

PRECEPTS selected from the " ENCHIRIDION " OF epictetus 148 



vi CONTENTS 

PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM THE MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS 

AURELIUS 155 

OPINIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM (ZOROASTRIAN) . . . 163 

COUNSEL OF MAIMONIDES TO HIS SON, IN HIS LAST WILL . 165 

WELSH MORAL TRIADS 171 

DYING WORDS OF SAINT LOUIS TO HIS SON 173 

MEDIAEVAL PRECEPTS ; FROM THE ROMANCES, AND FROM 

"STANS PUER AD MENSAM " 178 

INSTRUCTIONS OF THE KNIGHT OF LA TOUR-LANDRY TO HIS 

DAUGHTERS 185 

WYCLIF'S " SHORT RULE OF LIFE " 192 

LETTER OF WILLIAM DE LA POLE, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, TO HIS 

SON 199 

precepts selected from thomas a kempis's " little gar- 
den of roses" 202 

" the rule of honest living," from hugh rhodes's " boke 

of nurture " 205 

the " old men's dialogue " and " the schoolmaster's 

admonitions ; " from the " colloquies " of erasmus . 210 
roger ascham's advice to his brother-in-law, lord 

Warwick's servant 219 

ancient mexican code of moral precepts 221 

letters of sir thomas wyatt to his son 230 

ten precepts of lord burleigh, addressed to his son . 238 
letter of sir henry sidney to his son, sir philip sid- 
NEY 245 

montaigne on the cultivation of life 248 

sir walter raleigh's " instructions to his son and to 

posterity " 253 

lyly's euphues on the education of youth 259 

lord bacon's " precepts of the doctrine of advance- 
ment in life " 264 

the earl of essex's letter of advice to the young 

earl of rutland, attributed to bacon 269 

the advice of polonius to laertes ; from shakespeare's 

"HAMLET" 280 

SIR HENRY WOTTON'S " THE HAPPY LIFE " 282 

PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM BALTHASAR GRACIAN 284 

PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM THE "ENCHIRIDION" OF FRANCIS 

QUARLES . . . ! 288 

SELECTIONS FROM FRANCIS OSBORNE'S " ADVICE TO A SON " 293 
PROVISIONAL RULES OF CONDUCT FRAMED BY DESCARTES FOR 

HIMSELF 296 



CONTENTS 



Vll 



precepts selected from sir thomas browne s " letter 
to a friend " and from his " christian morals " . . 299 

moral teachings from thomas fuller's " holy state " 305 

selections from an english translation of maxims and 
moral sentences of the duke de la rochefoucauld 309 

passages from lord halifax's "moral thoughts and 
reflections" 313 

SELECTIONS FROM LORD HALIFAX'S "ADVICE TO A DAUGH- 
TER" 31G 

the " thus i think " of john locke 321 

selected "reflections and maxims relating to the 
conduct of life," from william penn's "fruits of 

solitude " 324 

william penn's advice to his children 330 

fenelon's rules for a christian life 342 

massillon on the use of time 345 

dean swift on good manners 348 

addison's methods for filling up empty spaces of life 351 
traits of moral courage in every-day life, by stanis- 
laus, king of poland 356 

precepts selected from chesterfield's letters to his 

SON 360 

PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM " THE ECONOMY OF HUMAN LIFE," 

ATTRIBUTED TO CHESTERFIELD 362 

RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 365 

FRANKLIN'S CATALOGUE OF VIRTUES AND PLAN FOR ACQUIR- 
ING THEM 375 

lord Chatham's letter to his nephew 385 

cowper's delineation of the happy man, FROM " THE 

task" 393 

Washington's letters to his nephews, and a selection 

from his " rules of civility " 397 

jefferson's letters of advice to young friends . . . 405 
precepts selected from goethe's "maxims and reflec- 
TIONS " 412 

SELECTIONS FROM THE " PENSEES " OF JOUBERT 418 

ROBERT BURNS'S POETICAL ''EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND " . 420 

jean paul friedrich richter's rules of life, from 

" quintus fixlein " 424 

Wordsworth's " character of the happy warrior " . . 428 

PRECEPTS FROM ZSCHOKKE'S "MEDITATIONS ON LIFE, DEATH, 

AND ETERNITY" 432 



viii CONTENTS 

SELECTIONS FROM THE " AIRELLES " AND "THOUGHTS" OF 

MADAME SWETCHINE 436 

SELECTED PASSAGES FROM SCHOPENHAUER'S " APHORISMS ON 

THE WISDOM OF LIFE " 439 

CARLYLE'S " THE EVERLASTING YEA ; " FROM " SARTOR RE- 

SARTUS " 446 

PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM LACORDAIRE's " THE MORAL LIFE " 

AND " LETTERS TO YOUNG MEN " 451 

RULES FROM EMERSON'S " CONDUCT OF LIFE " 455 

THOREAU ON THE MAEING OF LIFE DELIBERATE AND SIMPLE ; 

FROM " WALDEN " 461 






A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 

ON THE ANCIENT AND MODERN KNOWLEDGE OF 
GOOD AND EVIL 

The book that is believed to be the oldest in the world 
— the earliest piece of literature known to have escaped 
destruction and forgetfulness and to have survived to our 
day — is a collection of precepts of morals and manners, 
compiled in Egypt well-nigh fifty centuries ago. It is 
a manuscript known as " The Papyrus Prisse," taking 
the name from a gentleman, M. Prisse d'Avennes, who 
acquired it at Thebes, in 1847, and presented it to the 
National Library in Paris. This most interesting mes- 
sage from the remotest antiquity out of which any voice 
has reached us is in two parts. The first part, which is 
brief and probably fragmentary, contains a few rules of 
behavior ascribed to one Kaqimna, of the time of Snefrou, 
who reigned among the Pharaohs of the third dynasty. 
The second part is a more extended and important trea- 
tise of the same character. Its author introduces himself 
as "The prefect, the feudal lord, Ptah-hotep, under the 
majesty of the king of the South and the North, Assa." 
Assa was a monarch of the Fifth Dynasty, and the latest 
reckonings of Egyptian chronology, by Professor Petrie, 
place his reign somewhere between 3700 and 3500 years 
before Christ, or considerably more than two thousand 
years before the time of Moses and the exodus of Israel. 



2 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Hence the precepts of Ptah-hotep are probably older than 
the oldest books of the Jewish Sacred Scriptures by more 
than twenty centuries, even if the latter came from Moses. 

Aside from their extraordinary antiquity, the precepts 
of Ptah-hotep have a remarkable interest of their own. 
They are the first of a long series of writings in which 
thoughtful and wise men of every age have deliberately 
undertaken to prescribe, for themselves or for others, 
the rules of right, prudent, and seemly conduct that have 
appeared most important in their several views of life. 
Each one of such monitory writings may be looked upon 
as reflecting, incompletely, of course, but with more of 
less fidelity, the ideas of a good life, or a successful life, 
that colored the conduct of the better men and women of 
the age and the region from which it comes. I can think 
of no study more likely to be profitable and pleasant than 
a comparative review of the admonitions in such a series. 

When I read the " good sayings," as he has rightly 
called them, of Ptah-hotep, in translations that have been 
made by the patient and long study of many scholars, I 
have the feeling that I am being introduced to the primi- 
tive archetype of all gentlemen. He may worship, as the 
venerable Ptah-hotep would enjoin him to do, " the god 
with the two crocodiles ; " he may abase himself to the 
earth before a man greater than himself ; but he has the 
thinking and the feeling that have made gentlemen from 
his day to ours. In conversation with one who displays 
ignorance, he will not answer the unfortunate in a crush- 
ing way, to bring him to shame, but will treat him with 
courtesy and allow the subject to be dropped. He will 
always " speak without heat," and yet know how to make 
his answers " penetrate." He will ever " respect know- 
ledge and calmness of language." He will answer the evil 
words of a hot-headed disputant with silence. He will 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 3 

not despise one whose opinion differs from his own, nor 
be angry with one who is wrong. If he has " become 
great after having been little," or " rich after having been 
poor," he will not harden his heart, but will remember 
that he has " become only the steward of the good things of 
God." He will remember those who were faithful to him 
in his low estate. He will despise flattery. He will listen 
with patience and kindness to petitioners, and not be 
abrupt with them. He will be neither haughty nor mean. 
He will keep himself from the " fatal malady " of bad 
humor, — from grumbling, — from little irritations, — 
from rudeness. He will keep his countenance cheerful. 
If he hears extravagances of hasty language he will not 
repeat them. He will let his thoughts be abundant, but 
keep his mouth under restraint. His lips will be just 
when he speaks, his eyes when he gazes, his ears when he 
hears. If he is powerful he will not seize the goods of 
others. He will not inspire men with fear. He will love 
his wife and cherish her. He will make no improper 
advances to a woman. He will treat his dependents well. 
He will "train his son to be a teachable man." He 
will understand that "love for the work they accomplish 
transports men to God." Is not that to be a gentleman, 
in almost the highest sense in which we use the word 
to-day ? 

Remember that this outlines a standard of right conduct 
which was set before men some centuries before Abra- 
ham, — thousands of years before Homer — before Athens 
had risen — before the foundations of a city were laid on 
the seven hills of Rome. And the standard set is very 
high. It makes lofty demands on one who would live up 
to it. It will fit no life that is not lifted to an elevation 
above petty things, where the mind becomes tolerant, the 
spirit magnanimous, the temper serene. Its limitations, 



4 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

indeed, are in the lower, not the upper range of ethical 
obligations, as though its author scorned to assume that 
the people for whom he wrote could need to be admon- 
ished against low inclinations or gross crimes. The whole 
tone of his teaching forbids us, for example, to believe 
that Ptah-hotep would have overlooked drunkenness, if 
drunkenness had been a vice of his time, or failed to en- 
join helpfulness to the needy, if suffering poverty had 
been common in the land. Thus even the omissions of 
the treatise cannot lessen the astonishment with which we 
find such conceptions of conduct and character matured at 
so early a day. 

From Ptah-hotep we pass a long interval of time before 
we find another code of conduct given to mankind, and 
that one, the second in our series, is the code delivered to 
Moses on Mount Sinai, with the awful sanctions of a 
divine command. As an ethical standard, it offers a 
strange contrast to the standard marked by the old Egyp- 
tian. Of its mandates, four are religious, forbidding poly- 
theism, idolatry, and profanity in speech, and enjoining 
the observance of the Sabbath day ; six only are purely 
moral laws. These touch the right and the wrong of 
human conduct in six very important particulars, but 
touch them only on their grosser side. It is not violence 
that the Decalogue condemns, but murder ; not unchas- 
tity, but adultery ; not dishonesty, but stealing ; not 
untruthfulness, but false-witnessing ; not grasping and 
malign dispositions generally, but covetousness ; and it 
enjoins, not respect for age and wisdom, but filial rever- 
ence, only. If we construe this strangely limited code in 
the largest possible way, there are heights and depths and 
reaches of temper, passion, thought, conduct, on which it 
leaves us with no light ! 

The Decalogue is supplemented, however, by another 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 5 

Mosaic code, in the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, which 
covers a larger ground of morals. This requires the own- 
ers of fields and vineyards to leave gleanings for the poor ; 
forbids fraudulent dealing as well as theft, and lying as 
well as the bearing of false witness. It condemns oppres- 
sion and injustice, hatred, vengeance, and ill-will, and it 
gives that great, comprehensive commandment, which 
received emphasis from Christ, — " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." In that commandment we have 
really the whole principle of social morality — the essence 
of everything ethical in the relations between man and 
man. Rightly interpreted, it sums up the obligations of 
each to each more completely than the Golden Rule, to 
which it is collateral. The difference between the two is 
the difference between a principle and a rule. One gen- 
eralizes the feeling that ought to govern all our conduct 
toward our fellows ; the other lays down a clear, simple, 
straight line of reciprocity, to which the conduct itself 
must be squared, in every particular, and which tests it 
with no possibility of mistake. 

The Mosaic codes are far cruder and more primitive, 
generally, in their ethical tone and spirit, than the teach- 
ing of the Egyptian ; but the later Jewish canon of 
morals, which we find in the Book of Proverbs, rises to 
a higher level. It is a collection of precepts and sayings 
ascribed mostly to Solomon, but probably gathered from 
many sources. They denounce envy, jealousy, pride, 
haughtiness, knavery, treachery, lying, slander, mischief- 
making, cruelty, harlotry, contention, drunkenness, sloth- 
fulness ; and they extol thrift, industry, liberality, benev- 
olence, mercifulness, cheerfulness, reticence ; while Wis- 
dom, Understanding, and Righteousness are generalized in 
praises that run through the book like the refrain of a 
song. Though some of these proverbial admonitions seem 



6 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

almost empty of significance, there is great beauty and a 
finely spiritual insight in many among them. For exam- 
ple : " He that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual 
feast; " — what philosophy and what poetry are in that ! 
And again : " There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath 
nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath 
great wealth." That has been said in other words many 
times, but never with more simple impressiveness. And 
two, at least, of the thoughts that underlie and are inspi- 
ration for the very highest of all states of moral feeling 
are expressed here in a striking way. " If thine enemy 
be hungry, give him bread to eat ; and if he be thirsty, 
give him water to drink : for thou shalt heap coals of fire 
upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee." There 
we have the proposal of an attitude of spirit that is almost 
the noblest and nearly the most difficult that man can 
assume, and which nothing but high culture or native 
greatness of character makes possible. It is not a dispo- 
sition, let us admit, that is consistently or repeatedly in- 
culcated in the Old Testament; but something is added 
to one's estimate of human nature when we find even a 
single preacher of magnanimity at so early a stage of hu- 
man history. Much the same may be said of the other 
sentiment to which I have referred : " He that is slow to 
anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his 
spirit is better than he that taketh a city." Possibly this 
is the earliest formulation we can find of the grand doc- 
trine of self-mastery, which holds the golden secret of 
moral greatness in character and life. The discipline of 
it is practically implied in the older teaching of Ptah-ho- 
tep, the Egyptian ; but he did not lead his disciples back 
from the practice to the principle behind it. Nor does 
the doctrine seem ever to have become as fundamental in 
the moral philosophy of the Jews at it did elsewhere in 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 7 

the ancient world, even though we find it thus early in 
their proverbs. 

In the later Hebrew " wisdom-book," called Ecclesi- 
astes, or Koheleth, The Preacher, there is a loftier elo- 
quence, a deeper thoughtfulness, a profounder sense of the 
mysteries of the divine government of the world, than in 
the Book of Proverbs ; but the view of life is gloomy al- 
most to despair, and the counsels are stern and limited in 
range. The still later Apocryphal book of Jewish moral 
teaching, called " The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Si- 
rach," is quite different. It contains, in a scattered way, 
intermingled with noble prayers and fragments of religious 
discourse, a large collection of the most practical precepts, 
extending to common details in all departments of human 
affairs. The character of these is exceedingly mixed. In 
some the moral tone is quite elevated, in others decidedly 
low, indicating no advance in moral sentiment from the 
time of the earlier wisdom -literature. 

In the very old Hindu collection of laws and precepts 
known as the Code of Manu, the fundamental importance 
of the doctrine of self-mastery receives far more emphasis 
than in the Jewish Scriptures ; and quite possibly its 
recognition there antedates its appearance in the Book of 
Proverbs ; for, in the opinion of Sir William Jones, the 
Code of Manu was compiled as early as the thirteenth 
century before Christ, or three centuries before Solomon. 
Other scholars assign it to an age nearly contemporary 
with Solomon ; while some make it several centuries later. 
Among the " Acara " or rules of conduct in that ancient 
Hindu code is the following, as translated by Sir Monier 
Monier- Williams, in his interesting work entitled " Indian 
Wisdom:" — 

" E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds, 
Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions, 
"Which, running wild, will hurry thee away." 



8 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

The same idea is repeated with an enlargement in these 
words : — 

" The man who keeps his senses in control, 
His speech, heart, actions pure and ever guarded, 
Gains all the fruit of holy study; he 
Needs neither penance nor austerity." 

And a third time it appears, in the following "deca- 
logue," as it may be called, of Hindu morals, which offers 
an interesting comparison with the Decalogue of Moses : — 

" Contentment, patience under injury, 
Self-subjugation, honesty, restraint 
Of all the sensual organs, purity, 
Devotion, Knowledge of the Deity, 
Veracity, and Abstinence from Anger, 
These form the tenfold summary of duty." 

There is a more limited but splendid expression given 
to the same thought of self-control in the "Dhammapada," 
or Buddhist precepts of the law, as translated by Professor 
Max Muller : " He who holds back rising anger like a 
rolling chariot, him I call a real driver ; other people are 
but holding the reins." And again : " Self is .the lord of 
self; who else could be the lord? With self well sub- 
dued, a man finds a lord such as few can find." 

Whatever may have been the prevalent, practical mo- 
rality of the ancient Hindus, their sense of rightness in 
feeling and conduct, and their perception of the reason in 
morals, were singularly advanced, as is shown in their sa- 
cred literature, both Brahmanical and Buddhistic. From 
their great epic poem, " The Maha-bharata," Sir Monier 
Monier-Williams has translated a selection of precepts 
that are most remarkable in their ethical significance. 
The poem is some centuries older than Christianity ; but 
it contains the Golden Rule twice formulated in different 
words. First this : — 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 9 

" Do naught to others which if done to thee 
Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty." 

Then this : — 

" This is the sura of all true righteousness: — ■ 
Treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated. 
Do nothing to thy neighbor which hereafter 
Thou wouldst not have thy neighbor do to thee. 
In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, 
In doing good or injury to others, 
In granting or refusing a request, 
A man obtains a proper rule of action 
By looking on his neighbor as himself." 

This golden rule of reciprocity represents what may be 
called relative altruism, or the determination of duty to 
others by one's own claims. But a more absolute altru- 
ism of feeling is inculcated in the same poem : — 

" Enjoy thou the prosperity of others, 
Although thyself unprosperous; noble men 
Take pleasure in their neighbor's happiness." 

Again : — 

" To injure none by thought or word or deed, 
To give to others, and be kind to all — 
This is the constant duty of the good. 
High-minded men delight in doing good, 
Without a thought of their own interest." 

The Code of Manu teaches the same absolute consider- 
ateness for the f eelings as well as for the rights of others : — 

" Wound not another, though by him provoked, 
Do no one injury by thought or deed, 
Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures." 

And where in all ethical literature is there a more 
sublime injunction than this, in the same Code, which 
throws the final and true motive of right conduct back to 
the soul's own consciousness of right ? 

" The soul is its own witness, yea the soul 
Itself is its own refuge ; grieve thou not, 
O man, thy soul, the great internal witness." 



10 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Among the Chinese, who, since the sixth century be- 
fore Christ, have taken their teaching in morals from 
Confucius, there seems never to have been recognized so 
absolute a principle of right in spirit and conduct ; but 
Confucius set forth the Golden Rule most distinctly. 
In the " Confucian Analects," as translated by Professor 
Legge, Tsze-kung asked : " Is there one word which may 
serve as a rule of practice for all one's life ? " to which 
the Master replied : " Is not Reciprocity such a word? 
What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to 
others." Apparently Confucius regarded this as a sim- 
ple rule of expediency — the suggestion to a practical 
mind of the plan of dealings between men most likely to 
make their intercourse satisfactory to each and all. In- 
deed, it is wholly a practical, expedient wisdom that we 
find in the teachings of Confucius. There is rarely, in 
his injunctions, the glimpse of a principle out of which 
other rules might be drawn ; but almost always the Con- 
fucian precept is an indisputable decision of common 
sense, applied concretely to some of the circumstances of 
life. In one respect, however, Confucius was far advanced 
beyond all other ancient teachers of the East. That was 
in his urgency of teaching. " Instruct sons and younger 
brothers ; " " make much of the colleges and seminaries ; " 
" describe and explain the laws ; " instruct others ; learn 
from others ; question others ; — this is largely the burden 
of the admonitions of the Master and his disciples. And 
the appeal was effective. If their apprehension of what 
is valuable in knowledge had equalled the zeal for educa- 
tion with which Confucius inspired them, the Chinese 
would probably be the best educated among the peoples of 
the world to-day. 

If we now turn westward again, in the world of an- 
tiquity, and come back to the Mediterranean, this time 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 11 

arriving on its northern shore, among the Greeks, we 
shall meet first a counsellor of morals whose views are as 
worldly-wise and plainly practical as those of Confucius, 
and whose teachings hardly rise to the height of the doc- 
trine of Reciprocity. It is Hesiod, the ancient bard, who, 
in one part of his " Works and Days," addresses moral 
advice to a certain Perses, apparently his brother. The 
advice all tends correctly enough to good conduct, — to 
respect for virtue, to desire for wisdom, to piety, to hos- 
pitality, to neighborly good-will, to general prudence and 
decency of life. But the motives appealed to are not 
high, as may be seen in a few passages taken out of the 
translation made by Mr. C. A. Elton : — 

"Bid to thy feast a friend; thy foe forbear." 
And: — 

" Love him who loves thee ; to the kind draw nigh ; 
Give to the giver, but the churl pass by. 
Men fill the giving, not the ungiving hand." 

Another sentiment of the poem is significant of the 
prevalence of bad faith among the Greeks : — 

" Not e'en thy brother on his word believe, 
But, as in laughter, set a witness by." 

If Hesiod, who is supposed to have lived in the eighth 
century before Christ, represented the moral ideas of the 
better-cultured Greeks of his time, and if the " Golden 
Verses " ascribed to Pythagoras were composed in the 
sixth or fifth century before Christ, the moral advance 
made in the intervening two or three hundred years was 
very great. In the " Golden Verses " there is no trace 
of utilitarianism, either practical or philosophical. The 
appeal is always to the soul itself, as its own monitor : — 

" Let rev'rence of thyself thy thoughts control, 

And guard the sacred temple of thy soul." 
" Let no example, let no soothing tongue, 



12 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Prevail upon thee with a syren's song, 
To do thy soul's immortal essence wrong." 
" Let not the stealing god of sleep surprise, 
Nor creep iu slumbers on thy weary eyes, 
E'er ev'ry action of the former day 
Strictly thou dost and righteously survey. 
With rev'rence at thy own tribunal stand, 
And answer justly to thy own demand : 
Where have I been ? In what have I transgress'd ? 
What good or ill has this day's life express'd ? 
Where have I failed in what I ought to do ? 
In what to God, to man, or to myself I owe ? . . . 
If evil were thy deeds, repenting mourn, 
And let thy soul with strong remorse be torn. 
If good, the good with peace of mind repay, 
And to thy secret self with pleasure say, 
Rejoice, my heart, for all went well to-day." 

I quote from a translation made by the old English 
dramatist, Nicholas Rowe. This undoubtedly takes some 
modernness of tone from the translator, as the }3oetry of 
the ancients is almost sure to do ; but the fine spirit of it 
is readily seen. 

Thus far all the ethical teachings we have reviewed 
have come from what Principal Sir Alexander Grant, of 
the University of Edinburgh, has called " the era of popu- 
lar or unconscious morals." We are now, in Greece, ap- 
proaching the beginnings of such inquisitive thinking upon 
the nature and sources of moral obligation as produce, 
first, a " skeptic or sophistic era," in Principal Grant's 
division, and then a " conscious or philosophic era." 
From the Greek sophists, little or nothing seems to have 
embodied itself in lasting precepts. Nor is anything of 
that description to be got from the teachings of Socrates 
and Plato, who made the passage for Greek thought from 
sophistic to philosophic morals. Of all the teachers ever 
given to mankind, Socrates was the least dogmatic, — the 
least likely to frame a positive precept or rule of conduct. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 13 

His mission was to cure men's minds of half-thinking, — 
to drive them to the end of a thought, — force them to 
rummage the contents of an idea, and find all that belongs 
to it. As Plato's dialogues represent him, he pulled to 
pieces the Greek notions of virtue and the virtues, one 
after another : temperance, or moderation, for example, 
in the dialogue called " Charmides," and courage in the 
" Laches " and the " Protagoras," with the result that no 
positive definitions are found, and none seem discoverable. 
The constant inference to be drawn from the destructive 
dialectic of Socrates is, that all virtue is substantially 
one and indivisible, and that a man may possess its com- 
plete guidance in his own consciousness, if he will improve 
himself in wisdom, with which it is really identified. 

With Aristotle, who succeeded Plato in the founding 
of great schools of Greek thought, moral philosophy, 
strictly speaking, had its birth. He was the first of all 
men to attempt the construction of a logical science of 
the principles of human conduct, and to explain its Tight- 
ness and wrongness on rational grounds. Since his day, 
no subject of speculative philosophy has received more 
thought, and system after system of the theory of ethics 
has been worked out and discussed. Of the intellectual 
value of such theories and the discussion of them, as part 
of the process of the enlightenment of the human mind, 
contributing essentially to its comprehension of itself 
and of the Cosmos, there can be no doubt. But that the 
practical morality of mankind has been much influenced 
by systems of moral philosophy seems doubtful in the 
extreme. 

From the beginning, these systems have been divided 
by a single main contention, and have followed one or the 
other of two lines of theory, namely : the stoical and the 
epicurean, or the intuitive and the inductive, or the ab- 



14 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

solute and the utilitarian. In one view, Right and Wrong* 
are absolute facts, belonging to the nature of things ; the 
human mind is endowed with the power to recognize them, 
and the recognition carries with it an inherent feeling of 
obligation on the side of Right, which is the " ought to " 
of our sense of duty. In the other view, Right and 
Wrong in human conduct are mere backward reflections 
from its consequences, and our recognition of them is 
derived from our observation of what is and what is not 
conducive to happiness. To the stoic, virtue is the end, 
happiness a result from it — an incident. To the epi- 
curean, on the contrary, happiness (which the utilitarian 
of modern times explains to be " the greatest happiness 
of the greatest number ") is the end, and virtue the ne- 
cessary means to the attainment of it. The stoic doctrine 
lifts morality to the nobler level, and gives a dignity to 
right conduct that is wholly denied by the epicurean or 
utilitarian philosophy. It has a powerful attraction, 
therefore, for noble minds ; it is congenial to noble spirits ; 
they incline naturally to the acceptance of it, as a true 
representation of what they find in themselves. But how 
far different would they have found the springs of conduct 
in themselves if they had never known the philosophic 
doctrine? It has satisfied them intellectually, but how 
far has it influenced them morally ? I suspect that the 
influence has really been small, and that the practical im- 
portance, as affecting motives and conduct, of all that has 
been written in systematic moral philosophy, by philoso- 
phers of either school, from Aristotle to Mill, is estimated 
commonly with much exaggeration. 

Plutarch, who wrote moral essays on the cure of anger, 
on envy and hatred, on tranquillity of mind, and like 
topics, was neither a moral philosopher nor a maker of 
precepts; and neither a stoic nor an epicurean. He 






INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 15 

wrote against epicureanism, but rather in protest against 
sensual notions of hajjpiness than in support of any phi- 
losophical theory of ethics ; and he moralizes in his essays 
by the pleasant method of anecdote and example, more 
than by pointed admonition. 

The two great representatives of stoic morality among 
the ancients were Epictetus, the slave, and Marcus Au- 
relius, the Roman emperor. In no proper sense of the 
term were they moral philosophers, as they are frequently 
called. They were greater than philosophers, — they were 
practical moralists, of the sublimest order. They did not 
support the stoic philosophy by any systematic writing, 
but they illustrated the ethical ideas of stoicism by their 
lives and by the precepts they formulated ; and the stoic 
creed has influenced morals a thousand times more 
through the pregnant injunctions and examples of these 
two men, the slave and the emperor, than through the 
logic of all its philosophers. Stoicism as a philosophy 
founds itself, as I have said, on the belief in an intuitive 
cognition of right and wrong, — an innate moral sense. 
Stoicism as a doctrine of life is the acted consciousness of 
an eternal superiority in the soul of man to all the condi- 
tions of its existence in a body of clay. It was an inspir- 
ing faith in the world before Zeno composed a philosophy 
to support it. It was voiced, as we have seen, in the most 
ancient moral poetry of the Hindus. Socrates illuminated 
it in his life and in everything that he taught. It was 
set forth broadly and strongly by Aristotle. But the 
great stoic moralists made it conspicuous, as never before, 
— supreme above other considerations that bear on conduct 
and life. Sovereignty of spirit over flesh, of reason over 
passion, is the surpassing attainment through moral dis- 
cipline, in the stoic view. Thence come temperance, or 
moderation in all things ; fortitude, or courage to deal 



16 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

with vicissitudes, both good and ill ; faithfulness to 
duty ; submissiveness to the divine ordering of the 
world ; contentment. " Require not things to happen," 
said Epictetus, " as you wish ; but wish them to happen 
as they do happen ; and all will go on well." Another of 
his sayings is this : " Remember that you are an actor in 
a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. 
If short, of a short one ; if long, of a long one. If it be 
his pleasure that you should act a poor man, a cripple, a 
governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. 
For this is your business, to act well the character as- 
signed you : to choose it is another's." To the same pur- 
pose said Marcus Aurelius : " Live with the gods. And 
he does live with the gods who constantly shows them 
that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned 
to him." Again : " Think not so much of what thou hast 
not as of what thou hast ; but of the things which thou 
hast, select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they 
would have been sought if thou hadst them not." Among 
the many fine injunctions of the great emperor there is 
none finer than this : " Men exist for one another. Teach 
them then, or bear with them." And this : " Let it make 
no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if 
thou art doing thy duty ; and whether thou art drowsy or 
satisfied with sleep ; and whether ill-spoken of or praised ; 
and whether dying or doing something else. For it is one 
of the acts of life, this act by which we die ; it is sufficient, 
then, in this act also, to do well what we have in hand." 

These are pagan morals. Has Christianity improved 
on them ? The question is now timely, for we have ar- 
rived, in our hasty survey, within the Christian era. The 
life of Epictetus was in its first century ; that of Marcus 
Aurelius in the second. It is improbable that either of 
them knew aught of the teachings of Christ. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 17 

In the Sermon on the Mount we have the greater part 
of the moral prescriptions of Jesus gathered up. With 
some additions to be made to it from the parables and 
other portions of the gospels, it may be called the Moral 
Code of Christianity. In most of its precepts, the Sermon 
on the Mount differs little from older codes. It repeats 
the Golden Rule, already formulated in the East. It 
urges righteousness and purity of heart in general terms. 
It enjoins humility, meekness, mercifulness, forgiveness, 
kindly feeling towards one's enemies, sincerity in speech, 
self-examination, good example. It condemns anger, con- 
tention, retaliation, hypocrisy, ostentation in almsgiving 
and prayer, mammon-worship, anxiety for the future, 
censoriousness, the taking of oaths. Thus far it contains 
nothing that is not common to the moralists of earlier 
times and other regions. In a single point, only, I should 
say, it reveals a depth of moral perception not discovered 
before. That is where lustfulness is tracked from the 
lustful deed to the lustful thought, and the breaking of 
marriage except for one cause is forbidden. But that 
alone cannot lift it to any great supremacy above other 
moral codes. 

Nevertheless, there is a difference, very great, between 
the higher moral notions of antiquity and the higher 
moral notions of the modern Christian world. What is 
it ? From what does it arise ? I think the answer is this : 
The difference is one, not of quality, but of breadth — of 
amplitude — of practical range ; and Jesus gave the key 
to a moral dispensation as distinctly new as the religious 
dispensation that he introduced was new, when he an- 
swered the lawyer's question, " Who is my neighbor ? " 
by the parable of the Good Samaritan ; and when, to the 
amazement of his disciples, he talked with the woman of 
Samaria, and abode two days in that alien city, teaching 



18 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

its people. This would seem to have been the starting- 
point of an effective wakening of mankind to the larger 
sense of human fellowship, — of fellowship between men 
as men, extending beyond tribal lines and race lines, em- 
bracing all. The higher civilizations of antiquity had 
developed a full understanding, as it seems to me, of all 
the essential principles of moral law, but shrunk them to 
a narrow application. All that makes Eight in the con- 
duct of one man towards another was perfectly recognized, 
as between two who stood related in some familiar way, 
as members of the same family group, the same tribe, the 
same city, the same state. Dimly the recognition might 
stretch sometimes, and in some particulars, over the large 
kinship of race ; but it has rarely gone to that limit in 
any primitive society of either ancient or modern times. 
Within such bounds of obligation, Ptah-hotep, the Egyp- 
tian of five thousand years ago, the composers of the 
Hebrew proverbs, the authors of the Hindu epics and of 
the Laws of Manu, had little to learn of moral duty or 
restraint from our Christian twentieth century. The 
laws of rectitude between their "neighbors" and them- 
selves they knew well ; but their " neighbors " dwelt 
closely around them, worshipped the same gods, obeyed 
the same king, spoke the same language, followed the 
same habits of life. For the " stranger," outside the 
gates of their community, they held a very different moral 
code. 

From the time of Christ to our day, two influences have 
been steadily, slowly working together, to expand that 
narrowness and littleness of moral view which seems so in- 
veterate in the human mind. One of those influences — 
and I dare not say that it is the more potent one — has 
been the teaching that compelled the disciples of Christ, 
first to see a "neighbor" in even the detested Samaritan, 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 19 

and finally to become " brethren " to the whole Gentile 
world. The other influence has been the widening and 
quickening of intercourse, in modern times, between 
men of different countries, races, classes, and creeds. In- 
creasing acquaintance has been erasing, one by one, the 
artificial bounds that cribbed their sympathies and their 
discernment of right. Thus justice, benevolence, charity, 
tolerance, honesty, magnanimity, have come to mean 
vastly more than they did in former times, not by any- 
thing newly found in the essence of them, but simply by 
the expanding of their application. It is that which has 
uprooted slavery, -*- even, at last, the enslavement of black- 
skinned by white-skinned races. It is that which slowly 
makes the instructed feel responsible for the ignorant, the 
fortunate for the unfortunate, the strong for the weak. 
It is that which is taking vindictiveness out of law, and 
ferocity out of war, and which will, in time, — not soon, 
but after some centuries, perhaps, — put tribunals in place 
of armies and substitute arbitration for war. 

Neither of those influences, neither Christian teaching 
of human fellowship nor widened intercourse in the world, 
came speedily into effective operation. The voice of Christ 
was almost silenced for centuries by the din of theological 
disputes. His precepts were forgotten in the angry war 
of dogmas. Then, with the fall of the Roman Empire, 
there came a cloud of darkness over the world, in winch 
men groped apart, and became strangers, and neighbor- 
hood and fellowship were lost, as much as they had been 
in the ancient days. Out of that long period of the Mid- 
dle Ages there has come to us little that I discover of 
practical moralizing from the purest and most meditative 
minds ; and the little that we do find is singularly limited 
in scope. Moral sentiment was absorbed in religious 
sentiment, and lost its distinctiveness. The Church had 



20 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

become keeper of consciences ; the standards of right were 
hidden in its confessionals ; there was little thought of 
examining them. Even when the mediasval darkness be- 
gins to break, and there are monitory voices heard once 
more, from lips as pure and as noble as have ever spoken 
for righteousness, the monition is almost strictly a religious 
one ; the appeal for right-doing is made to motives of piety, 
rather than to the obligation of Right, considered abso- 
lutely, in itself. We find it so in the deathbed admoni- 
tions that good St. Louis of France addressed to his son, 
as reported by the Sire de Joinville. We find it in the 
precepts ascribed to Thomas a Kempis, and in Wyclif's 
" Short Rule of Life." An exception to it is furnished 
by the great Jewish Rabbi of the Middle Ages, Moses 
Maimonides, whose injunctions to his son Abraham, con- 
tained in his last will, form a noble moral code. They 
make plain the needful showing, that rightness does not 
lie on the surface of conduct, but has a root that runs 
deep down into the heart of man and into the everlasting 
verity of things. They are "full, too, of a profound prac- 
tical wisdom. "Accustom yourself," he says, "to good 
morals ; for the nature of man dependeth upon habit, and 
habit taketh root in nature." " There is no nobility like 
that of morality, and there is no inheritance like faithful- 
ness." " Let not bill, witnesses, or possession, be stronger 
in your sight than a promise made by word of mouth, 
whether in public or in private. Refrain from and dis- 
dain all deep reserves, cunning subterfuges, tricky pre- 
texts, sharp practices, and flaws and evasions." 

After the Renaissance and the Reformation there came 
a great revival of attentiveness to the counselling of the 
young, in definite particulars of conduct and behavior, for 
their practical guidance through life. The literature of 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is suddenly rich 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 21 

in letters, and other forms of discourse, addressed to sons, 
or to youthful friends, or to the world at large, by thought- 
ful and notable men of the day, giving advice, point by 
point, on the courses to take in life, the aims to pursue, 
the principles to be governed by. The composition of 
sententious precepts and rules was also much in vogue, 
and much interest was evidently taken in them. To a 
great extent, the moralizing of Jhat period was of the pru- 
dential kind, looking to success and smoothness in life, 
rather than to high spiritual motives and a fine self -cul- 
ture. Even Shakespeare, when he framed the advice of 
Polonius to Laertes, exemplified the fashionable worldly- 
wisdom of his age, in prudential maxims. It is only at 
the end that he puts a higher meaning into the old man's 
words, and makes him say : — 

" This above all, — To thine own self be true; 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man." 

Of the moralists of that extraordinary age there are 
none who show a shrewder worldly-wisdom than Mon- 
taigne ; but his was the wisdom of a profounder consider- 
ation of life, from the egoistic standpoint, than most of 
those who wrote of it had given. In that essay of Book 
III., in which he tells of his love of life, and how thought- 
fully he cultivates it and makes the most of it, he says : 
" Others are sensible of the sweetness of contentment and 
of prosperity ; I feel it, too, as well as they, but not as it 
slides and passes by; a man ought to study, taste, and 
ruminate upon it, to render worthy thanks to Him that 
grants it to us. ... I consult myself about a content- 
ment ; I do not skim, but sound it ; and bend my reason, 
now grown perverse and ill-humored, to entertain it." In 
that we have contentment sublimated, and the enjoyment 
of life erected into both a science and an art. Elsewhere 



22 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

in the same essay he says : " The great and glorious 
masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose ; all 
other things, to reign, to lay up treasure, to build, are at 
the most but mere appendixes and little props." Further : 
" Grandeur of soul consists, not so much in mounting and 
in proceeding forward, as in knowing how to govern and 
circumscribe itself. It takes everything for great that is 
enough ; and shows its height better in loving moderate 
than eminent things. There is nothing so handsome and 
lawful as well and duly to play the man ; nor science so 
hard as well to know how to live in this life." And 
again : " Of the experience I have of myself, I find enough 
to make me wise, if I were but a good scholar. . . . The 
life of Caesar himself has no greater examples for us than 
our own." 

Lord Bacon is believed to have written, for the Earl of 
Essex, a letter of rare wisdom which was addressed, in the 
name of the latter, to the young Earl of Rutland. " Be- 
havior," his lordship is told, " is but a garment, and it is 
easy to make a comely garment for a body that is itself 
well proportioned." Hence, the essential matter is the 
shaping and cultivation of one's mind. The excellences 
of the mind are the same as those found in the physical 
body, namely, — health, strength, and beauty. By health 
of mind we are kept from things evil and base. 
" Strength of mind is that active power which maketh us 
to perform good things and great things." Beauty of 
mind is shown in sweetness and gracefulness of behavior. 
As for the attaining of such an admirable condition of 
mind, the young man is pithily told that one " may mend 
his faults with as little labor as cover them." It would 
not be easy to put more food for moral thinking into a 
dozen words. 

Among the moralists of the next generation after Ba- 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 23 

con, the favorite, apparently, was Francis Quarles, whose 
« Enchiridion," or manual of precepts, enjoyed an ex- 
traordinary popularity in its day. Many of its maxims 
are trite, and they carry a little too plainly the marks 
of an artful and conscious workmanship ; but in some of 
them, on the other hand, so fine an expression is given 
to an old idea that it carries a new effect. I quote a few 
examples : — 

" Hath any wronged thee ? be bravely revenged : slight 
it, and the work 's begun ; forgive it, and 't is finished. 
He is below himself that is not above an injury." 

" In the commission of evil, fear no man so much as 
thy own self. Another is but one witness against thee ; 
thou art a thousand : another thou mayest avoid ; thyself 
thou canst not." 

" Demean thyself more warily in thy study, than in the 
street. . . . The multitude looks but upon thy actions ; 
thy conscience looks into them." 

" If thou seest anything in thyself which may make 
thee proud, look a little further, and thou shalt find 
enough to humble thee." 

" If thou wouldst have a good servant, let thy servant 
find a wise master." 

One of the contemporaries of Quarles was Sir Thomas 
Browne, who wrote a " Letter to a Friend " on subjects 
of conduct, and afterwards expanded it into a treatise on 
" Christian Morals." Like everything that came from 
that most delightful old physician, it is full of meat for 
meditation. " Be substantially great in thyself," he 
writes, " and more than thou appearest unto others, and 
let the world be deceived in thee as they are in the lights 
of heaven." 

" When thou lookest upon the imperfections of others, 
allow one eye for what is laudable in them, and the bal- 



24 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ance they have from some excellency, which may render 
them considerable." 

" Owe not thy humility unto humiliation by adversity, 
but look humbly down in that state when others look 
upward upon thee." 

" Be charitable before wealth makes thee covetous, and 
lose not the glory of the mite. If riches increase, let thy 
mind hold pace with them." 

When we find a crafty statesman, like Lord Robert 
Burleigh, addressing to his son Robert " Ten Precepts " 
which prove to be counsels of worldly prudence, just tinc- 
tured with a formal piety, we are not surprised. But one 
expects something more from Sir Walter Raleigh, and it 
is disappointing to discover scarcely more than a thrifty 
view of life in the " Instructions h which he left " To his 
Son and to Posterity." A somewhat higher tone appears 
in two letters of formal advice that were written from 
Spain by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the poet and diplomatist, to 
his only son, Thomas, and in a similar epistle by Sir 
Henry Sidney, to his famous son, the knightly Sir Philip ; 
but neither is at all remarkable. 

In Spain, a little later, there was a maker of maxims, 
Balthasar Gracian, whose sayings have been greatly 
admired. Discreetness and taste, rather than loftiness of 
sentiment, are the qualities that permeate them ; but they 
are wise in their kind and most cleverly framed. " Look 
into the inside of things," says Gracian ; " they are usu- 
ally very different from what they seem." " Have some- 
thing left to wish for, so as not to be unhappy from very 
happiness. If there is nothing to desire, there is every- 
thing to fear." " Know how to do good to people a little 
at a time and often." " Have no days of carelessness. 
Destiny loves to play tricks, and will pile chance on 
chance to take us unawares." 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 25 

The eloquent admonitions of old Thomas Fuller, in his 
classic discourses on " The Holy State and the Profane 
State," are almost purely religious ; but there are fine 
gleanings of strictly moral precept in them. For exam- 
ple : he does not condemn anger, in itself, as the moral- 
ists commonly do, but commends it, if rightly controlled 
and directed. ", Anger," he says, " is one of the sinews 
of the soul. He that wants it hath a maimed mind." 
But " to be angry for every toy, debases the worth of thy 
anger ; " and " he will make a strange combustion in the 
state of his soul, who at the landing of every cockboat sets 
the beacons on fire." There is a deeper wisdom in this 
than in the customary deprecation of all anger. So, too, 
in his counsels concerning recreation. He extols it, as 
" the breathing of the soul ; " but, he pleads, " Spill not 
the morning (the quintessence of the day) in recreations. 
For sleep itself is a recreation ; add not therefore sauce to 
sauce." And, in conclusion : " Choke not thy soul with 
immoderate pouring in of the cordial of pleasures." 

From the Puritan writers of that strange time we get 
little of the kind of ethic teaching that is the object of my 
present search. It is not in Puritanism, but in Quaker- 
ism, that we find the sense of righteousness uplifted again, 
and purged of worldly prudence, and made a very living 
force. Religion, as the followers of George Fox con- 
ceived it, included moral rightness in a way and a degree 
which the professors of religion have not always under- 
stood. It made them scrupulous of many things, such as 
war, and slavery, and the vanities of pomp and title, 
which mere fervors of emotional piety have often failed to 
waken the consciences of men against. It made the plain 
yea and nay of daily human intercourse as sacred to them 
as the worship of God. And that, I think, is why Wil- 
liam Penn became a disciple of George Fox. He was the 



26 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

truest and purest moralist of his generation. His medita- 
tive mind concerned itself as much with the life that is as 
with the life to come, and he was spiritually drawn to a 
conception of religion which resolutely broke down the 
distinctions between righteousness and piety that men are 
forever trying to build up. 

Penn was one of the most admirable writers of his gen- 
eration, and when he put his thoughts on conduct into 
precepts, as in a little collection which he entitled " Fruits 
of Solitude," he gave many of them an almost perfect 
form. 

" If thou thinkest twice," he wrote, " before thou speak- 
est once, thou wilt speak twice the better for it." 

" Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment is the trea- 
surer of a wise man." 

" Let nothing be lost, said our Saviour ; but that is 
lost which is misused." 

" Hospitality is good if the poorer sort are the subjects 
of our bounty." 

" Never marry but for love ; but see that thou lovest 
what is lovely." 

" Seek not to be rich, but to be happy. The one lies 
in bags ; the other in content." 

" Nothing needs a trick but a trick. Sincerity loathes 
one." 

Penn's little book of the " Fruits of Solitude " fell into 
the hands of Robert Louis Stevenson one day, at San 
Francisco, and delighted him so that he made it for a 
time his constant companion. At last he sent it to a 
London friend, with this note written in it : " If ever in 
all my ' human conduct ' I have done a better thing to 
any fellow creature than handing on to you this sweet, 
dignified, and wholesome book, I know I shall hear of it 
on the last day. To write a book like this were impossi- 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 27 

ble ; at least one can hand it on — with a wrench — one 
to another. My wife cries out and my own heart mis- 
gives me, hut still here it is. . . . Even the copy was 
dear to me, printed in the colony that Penn established, 
and carried in my pocket all about the San Francisco 
streets, read in street cars and ferry boats, when I was 
sick unto death, and found in all times and places a 
peaceful and sweet companion." 

But the principles of right conduct were discussed in a 
broader and more influential way by Penn in the " Advice 
to his Children " which he published in 1699. As a trea- 
tise of practical ethics, spiritualized, or interfused with 
religious motive, I doubt if anything better can be found 
in literature. 

When we arrive at the eighteenth century, we are at 
the opening of the new age of industry and politics 
through which the civilized world has been passing ever 
since : the age, that is, of great progress in science, mech- 
anism and democracy. At the beginning, at least, it was 
a most prosaic time, and the ideals in it were not high, — 
which fact shows in nothing more plainly than in the mor- 
alizing of the age. Whoever it may be that undertakes 
to frame rules for himself, or to give advice to young or 
old, on conduct, or on the use of time, or on the manage- 
ment of life, the advice has seldom any thought but the 
wary thought of prudence behind it. Even Addison, 
when he attempts, in one of the essays of " The Specta- 
tor," to propose to people who are wasting the greater 
part of their existence, " certain methods for filling up the 
empty spaces of their lives," drops into the veriest com- 
monplaces, and makes it plain that either he cannot or 
dare not hold up to his readers the high conceptions of 
life, and duty, and good, and happiness, and self-cultiva- 
tion, that would have suggested themselves to such a man, 



28 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

on such an occasion, in many earlier times. Our own 
Franklin, thrifty, shrewdly forethoughtful, kindly, public- 
spirited, ever busy in doing good to all around him, but 
politic and practical in everything, and having no glimmer 
of idealism or spirituality in his mind, was the typical 
moralist, I should say, of his age. It woidd be unfair to 
the age to make Chesterfield its representative in this 
matter, though his letters to his son, in their frank world- 
liness, and in the earnestness of their plea for the surface 
polish to be put on behavior by polite manners, are very 
much in the spirit of their time. Lord Chatham wrote 
letters to his nephew that are on about the same level of 
suggestion, though inspired by far more of moral earnest- 
ness. Nearly the same is to be said of the excellent let- 
ters of advice which Washington and Jefferson addressed 
to young friends ; and, indeed, it would be hardly reason- 
able to expect more from men — even the greatest — 
whose lives have been given, not to meditation, but to 
heroic and laborious deeds. 

Even the supreme genius of Goethe was affected, in no 
slight degree, by the hardness and coldness in the temper 
of the eighteenth century. He was not a moralist ; he 
had the larger wisdom of the great poet, realizing Mat- 
thew Arnold's definition of poetry, that it is a " criticism 
of life." He was, par excellence, the critic of life, from 
all view-points, including the moral. The abundant 
" Maxims and Reflections " that he left are rich in ethi- 
cal suggestion ; but they are not of the quality most in- 
spired or inspiring. They never flash such a light on 
man and on the life of man as we get sometimes from the 
sayings of Marcus Aurelius, and from others whom I have 
quoted in this slight review. Yet there is great and valu- 
able wisdom in them. 

" Ingratitude," says Goethe, " is always a kind of weak- 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 29 

ness. I have never known men of ability to be ungrate- 
ful." 

" It is not enough to know, we must apply ; it is not 
enough to will, we must also do." 

" Perfection is the measure of heaven, and the wish to 
be perfect the measure of man." 

" Use well the moment ; what the hour 
Brings for thy use is in thy power ; 
And what thou best canst understand, 
Is just the thing lies nearest to thy hand." 

" Art thou little, do that little well, and for thy comfort know, 
The biggest man can do his biggest work no better than just so." 

There is nothing more fundamental in the ethics of 
Goethe than the doctrine embodied in these last two in- 
junctions. They convey one of the teachings with which 
Goethe most inspired Carlyle — " Do the duty that lies 
nearest thee." In his cynical and vehement way, the lat- 
ter took it up and made it ring into the ears of his own 
generation with a passion of eloquence that reverberates 
yet. " Produce ! produce ! " he cries, in " Sartor Resar- 
tus," " were it but the pitifulest infinitessimal fraction 
of a product, produce it in God's name ! 'T is the utmost 
thou hast in thee : out with it, then. Up, up ! Whatso- 
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy whole might. 
Work while it is called To-day ; for the Night cometh, 
wherein no man can work." It is an old gospel ; but it 
came with wholesome force to the modern world from 
Goethe and Carlyle. So, too, did that other bitter-tonic 
doctrine, which both preached, that no man need think he 
has any right to happiness. It was an old annunciation 
even when the stoics found it ; yet Carlyle startled our 
fathers, sixty years ago, and put no little new thinking 
into their minds, when he cried to them : " What act of 
Legislature was there that thou shouldst be Happy? A 



30 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

little while ago thou hadst no right to be at all. What if 
thou wert born and predestined not to be Happy, but to 
be Unhappy ! Art thou nothing other than a Yulture, 
then, that fliest through the Universe seeking after some- 
what to eat, and shrieking dolefully because carrion enough 
is not given thee ? Close thy Byron ; open thy Goethe." 

As Carlyle cried " Produce, produce ! " so Thoreau 
cried " Simplify, simplify life ! " and he was scornful of 
the much-bragged-of work of the world. " As for work," 
he said, " we have n't any of any consequence. We have 
the St. Vitus's dance, and cannot possibly keep our heads 
still." Now, put the two doctrines of practical living 
together, — simplify life as Thoreau would have it, then 
do the duty that lies nearest, as Carlyle enjoins, and we 
have the groundwork, it seems to me, of the life best 
worth living. 

No two men of our day have won more attention to 
their views of life than Carlyle and Thoreau on these two 
points of duty-work and of simplicity which they singled 
out for emphasis. Therefore I have quoted them in this 
connection, though they do not belong among the sys- 
tematic preceptors whose maxims I have been discussing. 
Indeed, the counsellors and maxim-makers of that world- 
old school which dates from Ptah-hotep seem now to be 
disappearing. Men who meditate on Life and Conduct and 
Duty and Happiness seem no longer willing to attempt to 
pack their thoughts into a little bead-string of precepts 
and apothegms, or into the brevity of a letter of fatherly 
advice. It may be that life has widened so, and the con- 
siderations which bear on it have so multiplied, that they 
demand ampler and fuller treatment. At all events, what- 
ever the cause, it is in rounded essays and many-chaptered 
books that the counsels for right and happy living have 
mostly been given of late years. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 31 

These books I will not open, but end my hasty survey 
here. I end it with a deepened conviction that the know- 
ledge of Good and Evil has been complete in the world 
from the beginning of history, and that mankind has had 
nothing to learn since but the application of it. 



THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

Some account of the discovery of the papyrus containing 
the precepts of Ptah-hotep, and of the conclusions reached by 
Egyptologists with regard to the period of antiquity from 
which it has come down, are given in the introductory essay. 
Among the eminent scholars who have devoted time and 
labor to the decipherment and study of the papyrus, M. 
Philippe Virey appears to have been the most patient. The 
results of his "Etudes sur le Papyrus Prisse," begun in 
1881, were published at Paris in 1887. Three years later 
he contributed an English translation of the "Precepts of 
Ptah-hotep" to the third volume of Professor Sayce's "Re- 
cords of the Past," from which translation the following 
selection of a few among the precepts is taken. 

A SELECTION FROM THE PRECEPTS OF PTAH-HOTEP. 
(From "Records of the Past," edited by A. H. Sayce, N. S., v. 3.) 

Precepts of the prefect the feudal lord Ptah-hotep, under the 
majesty of the king of the South and North, Assa, living 
eternally forever. 

The prefect, the feudal lord Ptah-hotep says : O God 
with the two crocodiles, my lord, the progress of age 
changes into senility. Decay falls [upon man] and de- 
cline takes the place of youth. A vexation weighs upon 
him every day; sight fails; the ear becomes deaf; his 
strength dissolves without ceasing. The mouth is silent, 
speech fails him ; the mind decays, remembering not the 
day before. The whole body suffers. That which is good 
becomes evil ; taste completely disappears. Old age makes 
a man altogether miserable ; the nose is stopped up, breath- 



THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 33 

ing no more from exhaustion. Standing or sitting there 
is here a condition (?) of . . . Who will cause me to 
have authority to speak ? that I may declare to him the 
words of those who have heard the counsels of former 
days? And the counsels heard of the gods, who (will 
give me authority to declare them?) Cause that it be so 
and that evil be removed from those that are enlightened ; 
send the double . . . 

The majesty of this god says : Instruct him in the 
sayings of former days. It is this which constitutes the 
merit of the children of the great. All that which makes 
the soul equal penetrates him who hears it, and that which 
it says produces no satiety. 

Beginning of the arrangement of the good saying (s), 
spoken by the noble lord, the divine father, beloved of 
God, the son of the king, the first-born of his race, the 
prefect (and) feudal lord Ptah-hotep, so as to instruct 
the ignorant in the knowledge of the arguments of the 
good saying(s). It is profitable for him who hears them, 
it is a loss to him who shall transgress them. 

He says to his son: Be not arrogant because of that 
which thou knowest ; deal with the ignorant as with the 
learned ; for the barriers of art are not closed, no artist 
being in possession of the perfection to which he should 
aspire. [But] good (words) are more difficult to find 
than the emerald, for it is by slaves that that is discovered 
among the rocks of pegmatite. 

If thou findest a disputant while he is hot, and if he is 
superior to thee in ability, lower the hands, bend the 
back, do not get into a passion with him. As he will not 
let thee destroy his words, it is utterly wrong to interrupt 
him ; that proclaims that thou art incapable of keeping 
thyself calm when thou art contradicted. 

If, then, thou hast to do with a disputant while he is 



34 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

hot, imitate one who does not stir. Thou hast the advan- 
tage over him if thou keepest silence when he is uttering 
evil words. " The better (of the two) is he who is im- 
passive," say the bystanders, and thou art right in the 
opinion of the great. 

If thou findest a disputant while he is hot, do not de- 
spise him, because thou art not of the same opinion. Be 
not angry against him when he is wrong ; away with such 
a thing. He fights against himself; require him not 
[further] to flatter thy feelings. Do not amuse thyself 
with the spectacle which thou hast before thee ; it is 
odious, [it is] mean, [it is the part] of a despicable soul 
[so to do]. As soon as thou lettest thyself be moved 
by thy feelings, combat this [desire] as a thing that is 
reproved by the great. 

Inspire not men with fear, [else] God will fight against 
[thee] in the same manner. 

If thou art an agriculturist, gather the crops (?) in the 
field which the great God has given thee, fill not thy 
mouth in the house of thy neighbors ; it is better to 
make one's self dreaded by the possessor. As for him 
who, master of his own way of acting, being all-powerful, 
seizes [the goods of others] like a crocodile in the midst 
[even] of watchmen, his children are an object of male- 
diction, of scorn and of hatred on account of it, while [his] 
father is grievously distressed, and [as for] the mother 
who has borne [him], happy is another rather than her- 
self. [But] a man becomes a god when he is chief of a 
tribe which has confidence in following him. 

If thou abasest thyself in obeying a superior, thy con- 
duct is entirely good before God. Knowing who ought 
to obey and who ought to command, do not lift up thy 



THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 35 

heart against him. As thou knowest that in him is author- 
ity, be respectful towards him as belonging to him. For- 
tune comes only at her own good-will, and her caprice only 
is her law ; as for him who . . . God, who has created 
his superiority, turns himself from him and he is over- 
thrown. 

Be active during the time of thy existence, doing more 
than is commanded. Do not spoil the time of thy activ- 
ity ; he is a blameworthy person who makes a bad use of 
his moments. Do not lose the daily opportunity of in- 
creasing that which thy house possesses. Activity pro- 
duces riches, and riches do not endure when it slackens. 

If thou art a wise man, bring up a son who shall be 
pleasing to God. If he conforms his conduct to thy way 
and occupies himself with thy affairs as is right, do to him 
all the good thou canst ; he is thy son, a [person] attached 
[to thee] whom thine own self hath begotten. Separate 
not thy heart from him. . . . [But] if he conducts him- 
self ill and trangresses thy wish, if he rejects all counsel, 
if his mouth goes according to the evil word, strike him 
on the mouth in return. Give orders without hesitation 
to those who do wrong, to him whose temper is turbulent ; 
and he will not deviate from the straight path, and there 
will be no obstacle to interrupt the way. 

If thou art a leader, setting forward thy plans accord- 
ing to that which thou decidest, perform perfect actions 
which posterity may remember, without letting the words 
prevail [with thee] which multiply flattery, [which] excite 
pride and produce vanity. 

If thou art a leader of peace, listen to the discourse of 
the petitioner. Be not abrupt with him ; that would 
trouble him. Say not to him : " Thou hast [already] 
recounted this." Indulgence will encourage him to ac- 



36 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

complish the object of his coming. As for being abrupt 
with the complainant because he described what passed 
when the injury was done, instead of complaining of the 
injury itself, let it not be ! The way to obtain a clear 
explanation is to listen with kindness. 

If thou desirest to excite respect within [the house] 
thou enterest, for example [the house] of a superior, a 
friend or any person of consideration, [in short] every- 
where where thou enterest, keep thyself from making ad- 
vances to a woman, for there is nothing good in so doing. 
There is no prudence in taking part in it, and thousands 
of men destroy themselves in order to enjoy a moment, 
brief as a dream, while they gain death, so as to know it. 
It is a villainous intention (?), that of a man who [thus] 
excites himself (?) ; if he goes on to carry it out, his mind 
abandons him. For as for him who is without repug- 
nance for such an [act] there is no good sense at all in 
him. 

If thou desirest that thy conduct should be good and 
preserved from all evil, keep thyself from [every] attack 
of bad humor. It is a fatal malady which leads to dis- 
cord, and there is no longer any existence for him who 
gives way to it. For it [introduces] discord (?) between 
fathers and mothers, as well as between brothers and sis- 
ters ; it causes the wife [and] the husband to hate each 
other ; it contains all kinds of wickedness, it embodies all 
kinds of wrong. When a man has established his just 
equilibrium and walks in this path, there where he makes 
his dwelling, there is no room for bad humor. 

Be not of an irritable temper as regards that which 
happens beside thee; grumble (?) not over thy [own] 
affairs. Be not of an irritable temper in regard to thy 
neighbors ; better is a compliment to that which dis- 
pleases than rudeness. It is wrong to get into a passion 



THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 37 

with one's neighbors, to be no longer master of one's 
words. When there is only a little irritation, one creates 
for oneself an affliction for the [time when one will again 
be] cool. 

If thou art wise, look after thy house ; love thy wife 
without alloy. Fill her stomach, clothe her back, these 
are the cares [to be bestowed] on her person. Caress 
her, fulfil her desires during the time of her existence ; it 
is a kindness which does honor to its possessor. Be not 
brutal (?) ; tact (?) will influence her better than vio- 
lence ; her . . . behold to what she aspires, at what she 
aims, what she regards. It is that which fixes her in thy 
house ; if thou repellest her, it is an abyss (?). Open thy 
arms (?) for her, [respondent] to her arms ; call her, dis- 
play to her [thy] love. 

Treat thy dependents well, in so far as it belongs to 
thee [to do so] ; [and] it belongs to those whom God has 
favored. 

Do not repeat any extravagance of language ; do not 
listen to it ; it is a thing which has escaped from a hasty 
mouth. If it is repeated, look, without hearing it, towards 
the earth ; say nothing in regard to it. Cause him who 
speaks to thee to know what is just, even him who pro- 
vokes to injustice ; cause that [which is just] to be done, 
cause it to triumph. As for that which is hateful accord- 
ing to the law, condemn it by unveiling it. 

If thou art a wise man, sitting in the council of thy 
lord, direct thy thought towards that which is wise. Be 
silent rather than scatter thy words. When thou speak- 
est, know that which can be brought against thee. To 
speak in the council is an art, and speech is criticised 
more than any [other] labor ; it is contradiction which 
puts it to the proof. 



38 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

If thou art powerful, respect knowledge and calmness 
of language. Command only to direct ; to be absolute is 
to run into evil. Let not thy heart be haughty, neither 
let it be mean. Do not let thy orders remain unsaid, and 
cause thy answers to penetrate ; but speak without heat, 
assume a serious countenance. As for the vivacity of an 
ardent heart, temper it ; the gentle man penetrates [all] 
obstacles. He who agitates himself all the day long has 
not a good moment ; and he who amuses himself all the 
day long keeps not his fortune. Aim at fulness like 
pilots ; once one is seated another works, and seeks to 
obey [one's] orders. 

Disturb not a great man ; weaken not the attention of 
him who is occupied. His care is to embrace [his task] , 
and he strips his person through the love which he puts 
into it. That transports men to God, [even] the love for 
the work which they accomplish. Compose [then thy] 
face (?) [even] in trouble, that peace may be with thee, 
when agitation is with . . . These are the people who 
succeed in what they desire. 

If thou art annoyed at a thing, if thou art tormented 
by some one who is acting within his right, get out of his 
sight, and remember him no more when he has ceased to 
address thee. 

If thou hast become great after having been little, [if] 
thou hast become rich after having been poor, [when thou 
art at the] head of the city, know how not to take advan- 
tage of the fact that thou hast reached the first rank; 
harden (?) not thy heart because of thy elevation ; thou 
art become [only] the steward of the good things of God. 
Put not behind thee the neighbor who is like unto thee ; 
be unto him as a companion. 



THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 39 

If thou aimest at polished manners, call not him whom 
thou accostest. Converse with him especially in such a 
way as not to annoy him. Enter on a discussion with him 
only after having left him time to saturate his mind with 
the subject of the conversation. If he lets his ignorance 
display itself, and if he gives thee an opportunity to dis- 
grace him, treat him with courtesy rather; proceed not to 
drive him [into a corner] ; do not . . . the word to him ; 
answer not in a crushing manner ; crush him not ; worry 
him not ; in order that in his turn he may not return [to 
the subject], but depart to the profit of thy conversation. 

Let thy countenance be cheerful during the time of thy 
existence. . . . 

Distinguish the superintendent who directs from the 
workman, for manual labor is little elevated; the inac- 
tion [of the hands] is honorable. If a man is not in the 
evil way, that which places him [there] is the want of 
subordination to authority. 

The wise man is satiated by knowledge ; he is a great 
man through his own merits. His tongue is in accord 
'with his mind ; just are his lips when he speaks, his eyes 
when he gazes, his ears when he hears. The advantage 
of his son is to do that which is just without deceiving 
himself. 

When a son receives the instruction of his father, there 
is no error in all his plans. Train thy son to be a teach- 
able man whose wisdom is agreeable to the great. Let 
him direct his mouth according to that which has been 
said to him ; in the docility of a son is discovered his wis- 
dom. His conduct is perfect, while error carries away 
the unteachable. To-morrow knowledge will support him, 
while the ignorant will be destroyed. 



40 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

As for the man without experience who listens not, he 
effects nothing whatsoever. He sees knowledge in igno- 
rance, profit in loss ; he commits all kinds of error, always 
accordingly choosing the contrary of what is praiseworthy. 
He lives on that which is mortal, in this fashion. His 
food are evil words whereat he is filled with astonishment. 
That which the great know to be mortal he lives upon 
every day, flying from that which would be profitable to 
him, because of the multitude of errors which present 
themselves before him every day. 

Let thy thoughts be abundant [but] let thy mouth be 
under restraint, and thou shalt argue with the great. Put 
thyself in unison with the ways of thy master ; cause him 
to say : " He is my son," so that those who shall hear it 
shall say: "Praise be to [her who] has borne him to him ! " 
Apply thyself while thou speakest ; speak [only] of per- 
fect things ; and let the great who shall hear thee say : 
" Twice good [is] that which issues from his mouth ! " 

Do that which thy master bids thee. Twice good is 
the precept of our father, from whom we have issued, 
from his flesh. What he tells us, let it be [fixed in our] 
heart ; to satisfy him greatly let us do for him more than 
he has prescribed. Verily a good son is one of the gifts 
of God, [a son] who does [even] better than he has been 
told [to do] . For his master he does what is satisfactory, 
putting himself with all his heart on the part [of right]. 

So I shall bring it about that thy body shall be health- 
ful, that the king shall be satisfied [with thee] in all 
circumstances, and that thou shalt obtain years of life 
without default. 

It has caused me on earth to obtain 110 years of life, 
along with the gift of the favor of the king among the 
first of those whom their works (?) have ennobled, satis- 
fying the king in a place of dignity. 



THE DECALOGUE, OR TEN COMMANDMENTS 

(Exodus xix.-xx., Revised Version.) 

And it came to pass on the third day, when it was 
morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a 
thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a trumpet 
exceeding loud ; and all the people that were in the camp 
trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of 
the camp to meet God ; and they stood at the nether part 
of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, 
because the Lokd descended upon it in fire : and the 
smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and 
the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of 
the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and 
God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down 
upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount : and the Lord 
called Moses to the top of the mount ; and Moses went 
up. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the 
people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, 
and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which 
come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord 
break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, 
The people cannot come up to mount Sinai : for thou 
didst charge us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and 
sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, Go, get thee 
down ; and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with 
thee : but let not the priests and the people break through 
to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. 
So Moses went down unto the people, and told them. 



42 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

And God spake all these words, saying, 
I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

1. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. 

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor 
the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that 
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor 
serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon 
the third and upon the fourth generation of them that 
hate me ; and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that 
love me and keep my commandments. 

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God 
in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that 
taketh his name in vain. 

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six 
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work : but the 
seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord thy God : in it 
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor 
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : for 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, 
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; 
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hal- 
lowed it. 

5. Honour thy father and thy mother : that thy days 
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee. 

6. Thou shalt do no murder. 

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

8. Thou shalt not steal. 

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neigh- 
bour. 



THE DECALOGUE 43 

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou 
shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, 
nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything 
that is thy neighbour's. 



FUKTHER MOSAIC COMMANDMENTS 

(Leviticus xix. 1-19, Revised Version.) 

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 
all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say 
unto them, Ye shall be holy : for I the Loed your God 
am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his 
father, and ye shall keep my sabbaths : I am the Lord 
your God. Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to your- 
selves molten gods : I am the Lord your God. And when 
ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye 
shall offer it that ye may be accepted. It shall be eaten 
the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow : and if aught 
remain until the third day, it shall be burnt with fire. 
And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an abom- 
ination ; it shall not be accepted : but every one that 
eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned 
the holy thing of the Lord : and that soul shall be cut off 
from his people. And when ye reap the harvest of your 
land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, 
neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. 
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou 
gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard ; thou shalt leave 
them for the poor and for the stranger : I am the Lord 
your God. Ye shall not steal ; neither shall ye deal falsely, 
nor lie one to another. And ye shall not swear by my 
name falsely, so that thou profane the name of thy God : 
I am the Lord. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, 
nor rob him : the wages of a hired servant shall not abide 



FURTHER MOSAIC COMMANDMENTS 45 

with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not 
curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, 
but thou shalt fear thy God : I am the Lord. Ye shall 
do no unrighteousness in judgement : thou shalt not re- 
spect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the 
mighty : but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neigh- 
bour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer 
among thy people : neither shalt thou stand against the 
blood of thy neighbour : I am the Lord. Thou shalt not 
hate thy brother in thine heart : thou shalt surely rebuke 
thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. Thou 
shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against 
the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself : I am the Lord. 



THE FIFTEENTH PSALM 

The fifteenth Psalm is one of the Psalms ascribed to 
David, and with considerable probability in favor of David's 
authorship, according to the opinion of many modern critics. 
Ewald includes it in the list of Psalms which he selected, on 
internal grounds, as most likely to have been composed by 
the royal lyrist; and Canon Driver concludes that "if Da- 
vidic Psalms are to be preserved in the Psalter, we may say 
safely that they are to be found among those which Ewald 
has selected." 

Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle ? 

Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, 

And speaketh truth in his heart. 

He that slandereth not with his tongue, 

Nor doeth evil to his friend, 

Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 

In whose eyes a reprobate is despised ; 

But he honoureth them that fear the Lord. 

He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. 

He that putteth not out his money to usury, 

Nor taketh reward against the innocent. 

He that doeth these things shall never be moved. 









THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 

The Book of Proverbs is plainly made up, as critics have 
pointed out, of eight distinct parts: The first part, extend- 
ing from the beginning of chapter i. to the end of ch. ix., is 
(notwithstanding the introductory words, "The Proverbs of 
Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel ") a poetical dis- 
course in praise of wisdom. The second part, extending 
from the beginning of ch. x. to verse 16 of ch. xxii., bears 
likewise the title, "The Proverbs of Solomon," and this time 
the title is accurate. The contents are proverbs in the strict 
sense of the term. The third part, beginning with verse 17 
of ch. xxii. and ending with verse 22 of ch. xxiv., is made 
up of admonitions, described as "words of the wise," which, 
as remarked by Professor Driver, are "less a collection of 
individual proverbs than a body of maxims, in which pro- 
verbs are interwoven." The fourth part embraces only the 
remainder of ch. xxiv. from verse 23 to the end, under the 
title, "These also are sayings of the wise." Part the fifth 
introduces a new collection, with the title, "These also are 
Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of 
Judah, copied out," and these fill chapters xxv. to xxix., both 
inclusive. The sixth part covers ch. xxx., under the title, 
"The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the oracle." In part 
seven there are only the first nine verses of ch. xxxi., given 
as "The words of Lemuel, a king; the oracle which his mother 
taught him." The eighth and last part, covering the re- 
mainder of ch. xxxi., has no title, but is a poem descriptive 
of a virtuous woman. 

Says Professor Driver: "From the very different charac- 
ter of the various collections of which the Book is composed, 
it is apparent that the Book must have been formed grad- 
ually. According to the common opinion, the oldest collec- 
tion is 10, 1—22, 16," — that is, the second part described 
above. He adds: "At what date this collection was formed 



48 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

cannot be determined with precision; but from the general 
picture of society which the proverbs seem to reflect, and 
especially from the manner in which the king is uniformly 
alluded to, it is generally referred to the golden days of 
the monarchy : Delitzscb thinks of the reign of Jehoshaphat ; 
Ewald assigns it to the beginning of the eighth century." 
As to the authorship of the proverbs ascribed to Solomon, the 
professor holds the most probable view to be that those in 
part two are "a collection of proverbs by different ' wise 
men ' living under the monarchy, including a nucleus, though 
we cannot determine its limits or ascribe particular proverbs 
to it, actually the work of the Wise King (in accordance 
with the tradition, 1 Kings, 4, 32)." The same remarks 
he thinks, will apply to the proverbs in part five of the divi- 
sion described above. 

SELECTIONS FROM THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 



The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge : 

But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction. 

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, 

And forsake not the law of thy mother : 

For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, 

And chains about thy neck. 

My son, if sinners entice thee, 

Consent thou not. 

If they say, Come with us, 

Let us lay wait for blood, 

Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause ; 

Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, 

And whole, as those that go down into the pit ; 

We shall find all precious substance, 

We shall fill our houses with spoil; 

Thou shalt cast thy lot among us ; 

We will all have one purse : 

My son, walk thou not in the way with them ; 



> 



THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 49 

Refrain thy foot from their path: 

For their feet run to evil, 

And they make haste to shed blood. 

For in vain is the net spread, 

In the eyes of any bird : 

And these lay wait for their own blood, 

They lurk privily for their own lives. 

So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain ; 

It taketh away the life of the owners thereof. 

in. 

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, 

And the man that getteth understanding. 

For the merehandise of it is better than the merchandise 
of silver, 

And the gain thereof than fine gold. 

She is more precious than rubies : 

And none of the things thou canst desire are to be com- 
pared unto her. 

Length of days is in her right hand ; 

In her left hand are riches and honour. 

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 

And all her paths are peace. 

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her : 

And happy is every one that retaineth her. 

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, 

When it is in the power of thine hand to do it. 

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, 

And to-morrow I will give ; 

When thou hast it by thee. 

Devise not evil against thy neighbour, 

Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 

Strive not with a man without cause, 

If he have done thee no harm. 



50 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Envy thou not the man of violence, 

And choose none of his ways. 

For the perverse is an abomination to the Lord ; 

But his secret is with the upright. 

The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked ; 

But he blesseth the habitation of the righteous. 

Surely he scorneth the scorners, 

But he giveth grace unto the lowly. 

The wise shall inherit glory ; 

But shame shall be the promotion of fools. 



My son, attend unto my wisdom ; 

Incline thine ear to my understanding : 

That thou mayest preserve discretion, 

And that thy lips may keep knowledge. 

For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, 

And her mouth is smoother than oil : 

But her latter end is bitter as wormwood, 

Sharp as a two-edged sword. 

Her feet go down to death ; 

Her steps take hold on Sheol ; 

So that she findeth not the level path of life : 

Her ways are unstable and she knoweth it not. 

Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, 

And depart not from the words of my mouth. 

Kemove thy way far from her, 

And come not nigh the door of her house. 

VI. 

My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbour, 
If thou hast stricken thy hands for a stranger, 
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, 
Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. 



THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 51 

Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, 

Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour ; 

Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbour. 

Give not sleep to thine eyes, 

Nor slumber to thine eyelids. 

Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter ', 

And as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; 

Consider her ways, and be wise : 

Which having no chief, 

Overseer, or ruler, 

Provideth her meat in the summer, 

And gathereth her food in the harvest. 

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard ? 

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep ? 

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, 

A little folding of the hands to sleep : 

So shall thy poverty come as a robber, 

And thy want as an armed man. 

There be six things which the Lokd hateth ; 

Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him : 

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, 

And hands that shed innocent blood ; 

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 

Feet that be swift in running to mischief ; 

A false witness that uttereth lies, 

And he that soweth discord among brethren. 

x. 

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand : 
But the hand of the diligent maketh rich. 
He that gathereth in summer is a wise son : 
But he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth 
shame. 



52 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

He is in the way of life that heedeth correction : 

But he that forsaketh reproof erreth. 

He that hideth hatred is of lying lips ; 

And he that uttereth a slander is a fool. 

In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression. 

But he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely. 

The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver : 

The heart of the wicked is little worth. 

The lips of the righteous feed many: 

But the foolish die for lack of understanding. 

XI. 

A false balance is an abomination to the Lokd ; 

But a just weight is his delight. 

When pride cometh, then cometh shame : 

But with the lowly is wisdom. 

The integrity of the upright shall guide them : 

But the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them. 

Riches profit not in the day of wrath : 

But righteousness delivereth from death. 

He that despiseth his neighbour is void of wisdom : 

But a man of understanding holdeth his peace. 

He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets : 

But he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. 

Where no wise guidance is, the people falleth: 

But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: 

But he that hateth suretiship is sure. 

A gracious woman retaineth honour : 

And violent men retain riches. 

The merciful man doeth good to his own soul : 

But he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. 

The liberal soul shall be made fat : 

And he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 



THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 53 

He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him : 
But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. 
He that diligently seeketh good seeketh favour : 
But he that searcheth after mischief, it shall come unto 

him. 
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall : 
But the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf. 

XII. 

A righteous man regard eth the life of his beast : 
But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. 

XIII. 

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing : 

But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. 

A righteous man hateth lying : 

But a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. 

Righteousness guardeth him that is upright in the way : 

But wickedness overthroweth the sinner. 

There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing : 

There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great wealth. 

The ransom of a man's life is his riches : 

But the poor heareth no threatening. 

The light of the righteous rejoiceth : 

But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 

By pride cometh only contention : 

But with the well-advised is wisdom. 

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished : 

But he that gathereth by labour shall have increase. 

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick : 

But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. 

Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise : 

But the companion of fools shall smart for it. 



54 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

XIV. 

He that is slow to anger is of great understanding : 

But lie that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. 

A sound heart is the life of the flesh : 

But envy is the rottenness of the bones. 

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker : 

But he that hath mercy on the needy honoureth him. 

xv. 

A soft answer turneth away wrath : 

But a grievous word stirreth up anger. 

The tongue of the wise uttereth knowledge aright : 

But the mouth of fools poureth out folly. 

He that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual feast. 

Better is little with the fear of the Lord, 

Than great treasure and trouble therewith. 

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, 

Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. 

XVI. 

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, 
Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 

XVII. 

He that spareth his words hath knowledge : 
And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise : 
When he shutteth his lips he is esteemed as prudent. 

xvni. 

He also that is slack in his work 
Is brother to him that is a destroyer. 









THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 55 



XIX. 



He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, 
And his good deed will he pay him again. 

xx. 

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler ; 

And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise. 

Divers weights and divers measures, 

Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. 

Even a child maketh himself known by his doings, 

Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. 

The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, 

The Lord hath made even both of them. 

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty ; 

Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. 

It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer : 

But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. 

XXI. 

He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man : 
He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. 

XXII. 

Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger ; 

And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go : 

Lest thou learn his ways, 

And get a snare to thy soul. 

Be thou not one of them that strike hands, 

Or of them that are sureties for debts : 

If thou hast not wherewith to pay, 

Why should he take away thy bed from under thee ? 

Remove not the ancient landmark, 

Which thy fathers have set. 



' 



56 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall stand 
before kings. 

XXIII. 

Be not among winebibbers ; 

Among gluttonous eaters of flesh : 

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. 

Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath contentions ? 

Who hath complaining ? who hath wounds without cause ? 

Who hath redness of eyes ? 

They that tarry long at the wine ; 

They that go to seek out mixed wine. 

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, 

When it giveth its colour in the cup, 

When it goeth down smoothly : 

At the last it biteth like a serpent, 

And stingeth like an adder. 

xxv. 

Go not forth hastily to strive, 

Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, 

When thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. 

Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself, 

And disclose not the secret of another : 

Lest he that heareth it revile thee, 

And thine infamy turn not away. 

A word fitly spoken 

Is like apples of gold in baskets of silver. 

Let thy feet be seldom in thy neighbour's house ; 

Lest he be weary of thee, and hate thee. 

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat ; 

And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink : 

For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, 

And the Lokd shall reward thee. 



THE BOOK OF PROVERBS 57 



XXVI. 



For lack of wood the fire goeth out : 

And where there is no whisperer, contention ceaseth, 

As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, 

So is a contentious man to inflame strife. 

XXVII. 

Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; 

For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. 

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth ; 

A stranger, and not thine own lips. 

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous ; 

But who is able to stand before jealousy ? 

Better is open rebuke 

Than love that is hidden. 



ECCLESIASTES, OE THE PREACHER 

Says Professor Cheyne: "Jewish tradition, while admit- 
ting a Hezekian or post-Hezekian redaction to the book, 
assigns the original authorship of Ecclesiastes to Solomon." 
But he adds : " Whichever way we look, whether to the social 
picture, or to the language, or to the ideas of the book, 
its recent origin forces itself upon us. . . . The judgment of 
Ewald, as already expressed in 1837, appears to me on the 
whole satisfactory: ' One might easily imagine Koheleth [by 
which Hebrew name, signifying The Preacher, the book Ec- 
clesiastes is commonly known among the critics] to be the 
very latest book in the Old Testament. . . . But though 
not the latest, it cannot have been written till long after 
Aramaic had begun powerfully to influence Hebrew, and there- 
fore not before the last century of the Persian rule '" — in 
other words, not before the fourth century b. c. 

SELECTIONS FROM ECCLESIASTES. 
CHAPTER V. 

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be 
hasty to utter any thing before God ; for God is in heaven, 
and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 
Eor a dream cometh with a multitude of business ; and a 
fool's voice with a multitude of words. When thou vow- 
est a vow unto God, defer not to pay it ; for he hath no 
pleasure in fools : pay that which thou vowest. Better is 
it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest 
vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy 
flesh to sin ; neither say thou before the angel, that it was 



ECCLESIASTES 59 

an error : wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, 
and destroy the work of thine hands ? For thus it cometh 
to pass through the multitude of dreams and vanities and 
many words : but fear thou God. 

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent 
taking away of judgement and justice in a province, mar- 
vel not at the matter : for one higher than the high re- 
gardeth ; and there be higher than they. Moreover, the 
profit of the earth is for all : the King himself is served 
by the field. 

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, 
nor he that loveth abundance with increase : this also is 
vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that 
eat them : and what advantage is there to the owner 
thereof, saving the beholding of them with his eyes ? The 
sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or 
much : but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to 
sleep. 

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the 
sun, namely, riches kept hj the owner thereof to his hurt : 
and those riches perish by evil adventure ; and if he hath 
begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came 
forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he 
came, and shall take nothing for his labour, which he may 
carry away in his hand. And this also is a grievous evil, 
that in all points as he came, so shall he go : and what 
profit hath he that he laboureth for the wind ? 

VII. 

A good name is better than precious ointment ; and the 
day of death than the day of one's birth. It is better to 
go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of 
feasting : for that is the end of all men ; and the living 
will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter : 



60 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made 
glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning ; 
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is bet- 
ter to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear 
the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under 
a pot, so is the laughter of the fool : this also is vanity. 
Surely extortion maketh a wise man foolish ; and a gift 
destroyeth the understanding. Better is the end of a 
thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in 
spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in 
thy spirit to be angry : for anger resteth in the bosom of 
fools. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former 
days were better than these ? for thou dost not inquire 
wisely concerning this. Wisdom is as good as an inherit- 
ance : yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun. 
For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence : but 
the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preserveth the 
life of him that hath it. Consider the work of God : for 
who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked ? 
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of ad- 
versity consider : God hath even made the one side by 
side with the other, to the end that man should not find 
out any thing that shall be after him. 

VIII. 

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hun- 
dred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that 
it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear be- 
fore him : but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither 
shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow ; because 
he feareth not before God. There is a vanity which is 
done upon the earth ; that there be righteous men, unto 



ECCLESIASTES 61 

whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked ; 
again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth accord- 
ing to the work of the righteous : I said that this also is 
vanity. Then I commended mirth, because a man hath 
no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, 
and to be merry : for that shall abide with him in his la- 
bour all the days of his life which God hath given him 
under the sun. 

IX. 

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine 
with a merry heart ; for God hath already accepted thy 
works. Let thy garments be always white ; and let not 
thy head lack ointment. Live joyfully with the wife 
whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, 
which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of 
thy vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy 
labour wherein thou labour est under the sun. Whatso- 
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for 
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, 
in the grave, whither thou goest. 

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not 
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread 
to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor 
yet favour to men of skill ; but time and chance happen- 
eth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time : as 
the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds 
that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men 
snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. 

XI. 

Cast thy bread upon the waters : for thou shalt find it 
after many days. Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto 
eight ; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the 
earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty them- 



62 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

selves upon the earth : and if a tree fall toward the south, 
or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, 
there shall it be. He that observeth the wind shall not 
sow ; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 
As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor 
how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with 
child ; even so thou knowest not the work of God who 
doeth all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the even- 
ing withhold not thine hand : for thou knowest not which 
shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both 
shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a plea- 
sant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Yea, if a 
man live many years, let him rejoice in them all ; but let 
him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be 
many. All that cometh is vanity. 

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; and let thy heart 
cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways 
of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : but know 
thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into 
judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and 
put away evil from thy flesh : for youth and the prime of 
life are vanity. 

XII. 

Eemember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 
or ever the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when 
thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them ; or ever the 
sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, be dark- 
ened, and the clouds return after the rain : in the day 
when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the 
strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease 
because they are few, and those that look out of the win- 
dows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the 
street ; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one 
shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters 



ECCLESIASTES G3 

of music shall be brought low ; yea, they shall be afraid 
of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way ; 
and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper 
shall be a burden, and the caper-berry shall fail : because 
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about 
the streets : or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden 
bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, 
or the wheel broken at the cistern ; and the dust return 
to the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto God who 
gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher ; all is 
vanity. 

And furthermore, my son, be admonished : of making 
many books there is no end ; and much study is a weari- 
ness of the flesh. 

This is the end of the matter ; all hath been heard : 
fear God, and keep his commandments ; for this is the 
whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into 
judgement, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or 
whether it be evil. 



THE CODE OF MANU 

(Of unknown antiquity.) 

The collection of laws and precepts commonly called " The 
Code of Manu " is the oldest and most celebrated of many 
books of the law that were compiled among the ancient 
Hindus for the purpose of giving more definiteness to the 
vague injunctions of the Vedic hymns. Sir William Jones 
assigned the work to as early a date as 1280 B. c. Mr. 
Elphinstone placed it 900 years B. c. In the opinion of Sir 
Monier Monier- Williams, it can scarcely, in its present form, 
be placed earlier or later than the fifth century b. c. Says 
the latter: "We must beware of imagining that Manu's 
Law-book is a record of national ordinances and institutions 
prevalent over the whole" of India. "No doubt ultimately it 
worked its way to acceptance with the entire Hindu commu- 
nity ; and certainly in the end it not only secured for itself 
a high place in popular estimation and a degree of reverence 
only second to that accorded to the Veda, but it became, 
moreover, the chief authority as a basis of Hindu jurispru- 
dence." "Some of its moral precepts are worthy of Chris- 
tianity itself." 

In Sir Monier' s interesting work entitled "Indian Wis- 
dom," he gives, "as literally as possible," a metrical version 
of some of Manu's most noteworthy precepts, selected from 
different parts of the Code, under the four heads of Acara, 
rules of conduct ; Vyavahara, rules of government and judi- 
cature ; Prayas-citta, penance; Karma-phala, rewards and 
punishments of acts. The following is his version of the 
"Acara, or Rules of Conduct." 






THE CODE OF MANU 65 

£<5aRA, OR RULES OF CONDUCT. 

(From the Code of Manu.) 

Think constantly, O son, how thou mayest please 
Thy father, mother, teacher — these obey. 
By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay. 
This is thy highest duty and religion. 

(ii. 228.) 
Who finds around him only wicked sons, 
When called by fate to pass the gloom of death, 
Is like a man who seeks to cross a flood 
Borne on a raft composed of rotten wood. 

(ix. 161.) 
Even though wronged, treat not with disrespect 
Thy father, mother, teacher, elder brother. 

(ii. 226.) 
From poison thou mayest take the food of life, 
The purest gold from lumps of impure earth, 
Examples of good conduct from a foe, 
Sweet speech and gentleness from e'en a child, 
Something from all; from men of low degree 
Lessons of wisdom, if thou humble be. 

(ii. 238, 239.) 
Wound not another, though by him provoked, 
Do no one injury by thought or deed, 
Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures. 

(ii. 161.) 
Say what is true, speak not agreeable falsehood. 

(iv. 138.) 
Treat no one with disdain, with patience bear 
Beviling language ; with an angry man 
Be never angry ; blessings give for curses. 

(vi. 47, 48.) 



06 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds, 

Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions, 

Which, running wild, will hurry thee away. 

(ii. 88.) 
When asked, give something, though a very trifle, 
Ungrudgingly and with a cheerful heart, 
According to thy substance ; only see 
That he to whom thou givest worthy be. 

(iv. 227, 228.) 
Pride not thyself on thy religious works, 
Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts. 
By pride religious merit melts away, 
The merit of thy alms by ostentation. 

(iv. 236, 237.) 
None sees us, say the sinful in their hearts ; 
Yes, the gods see them, and the omniscient Spirit 
Within their breasts. Thou thinkest, O good friend, 
' I am alone,' but there resides within thee 
A Being who inspects thy every act, 
Knows all thy goodness and thy wickedness. 

(viii. 85, 91.) 
The soul is its own witness, yea, the soul 
Itself is its own refuge ; grieve thou not, 
O man, thy soul, the great internal Witness. , 

(viii. 84.) 
The Firmament, the Earth, the Sea, the Moon, 
The Sun, the Fire, the Wind, the Night, and both 
The sacred Twilights, and the Judge of souls, 
The god of Justice, and the Heart itself — 
All constantly survey the acts of men. 

(viii. 86.) 
When thou hast sinned, think not to hide thy guilt 
Under a cloak of penance and austerity. 

(iv. 198.) 



THE CODE OF MANU 67 

No study of the Veda, nor oblation, 

No gift of alms, nor round of strict observance 

Can lead the inwardly depraved to heaven. 



If with the great Divinity who dwells 
Within thy breast thou hast no controversy, 
Go not to Ganges' water to be cleansed, 
Nor make a pilgrimage to Kuru's fields. 



(ii. 97.) 



(viii. 92.) 



Iniquity once practised, like a seed, 

Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it, 

If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons. 



Contentment is the root of happiness, 
And discontent the root of misery. 
Wouldst thou be happy, be thou moderate. 



(iv. 173.) 



(iv. 12.) 



Honour thy food, receive it thankfully, 
Eat it contentedly and joyfully, 
Ne'er hold it in contempt ; avoid excess, 
For gluttony is hateful, injures health, 
May lead to death, and surely bars the road 
To holy merit and celestial bliss. 

(ii. 54, 57.) 
Desire is not extinguished by enjoyment, 
Fire is not quenched by offerings of oil, 
But blazes with increased intensity. 

(ii. 94.) 
Shrink thou from worldly honour as from poison, 
Seek rather scorn ; the scorn'd may sleep in peace, 
In peace awake ; the scorner perishes. 

Daily perform thy own appointed work 
Unweariedly ; and to obtain a friend — 



68 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

A sure companion to the future world — 
Collect a store of virtue like the ants 
Who garner up their treasures into heaps ; 
For neither father, mother, wife, nor son, 
Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then, 
When thou art passing to that other home — 
Thy virtue will thy only comrade be. 

(iv. 238, 239.) 
Single is every living creature born, 
Single he passes to another world, 
Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds, 
Single, the fruit of good ; and when he leaves 
His body like a log or heap of clay 
Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away ; 
Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb 
And bears him through the dreary trackless gloom. 

(iv. 240, 242.) 
Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow ; 
As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow. 

(ix. 40.) 
Depend not on another, rather lean 
Upon thyself ; trust to thine own exertions. 
Subjection to another's will gives pain ; 
True happiness consists in self-reliance. 

(iv. 160.) 
Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced ; 
Wearied, renew thy efforts once again ; 
Again fatigued, once more the work begin, 
So shalt thou earn success and fortune win. 

(ix. 300.) 
Never despise thyself, nor yet contemn 
Thy own first efforts, though they end in failure ; 
Seek Fortune with persistency till death, 
Nor ever deem her hard to be obtained. 

(iv. 137.) 



THE CODE OF MANU 

Success in every enterprise depends 
On Destiny and man combined, the acts 
Of Destiny are out of man's control ; 
Think not on Destiny, but act thyself. 



(vii. 205.) 



Be courteous to thy guest who visits thee ; 
Offer a seat, bed, water, food enough, 
According to thy substance, hospitably ; 
Naught taking for thyself till he be served ; 
Homage to guests brings wealth, fame, life, and heaven. 

(iii. 106, iv. 29.) 
He who possessed of ample means bestows 
His gifts on strangers while his kindred starve, 
Thinks to enjoy the honey of applause, 
But only eating poison dies despised — 
Such charity is cruelty disguised. 

(xi. 9.) 
He who pretends to be what he is not, 
Acting a part, commits the worst of crimes, 
For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man's heart. 

(iv. 255.) 
Though thou mayst suffer for thy righteous acts, 
Ne'er give thy mind to aught but honest gain. 

(iv. 171.) 
So act in thy brief passage through this world 
That thy apparel, speech, and inner store 
Of knowledge be adapted to thy age, 
Thy occupation, means, and parentage. 

(iv. 18.) 
The man who keeps his senses in control, 
His speech, heart, actions, pure and ever guarded, 
Gains all the fruit of holy study ; he 
Needs neither penance nor austerity. 

(ii. 160.) 



70 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

But if a single organ fail, by that defect 
His knowledge of the truth flows all away 
Like water leaking from a leathern vessel. 

(ii. 99.) 
Contentment, patience under injury, 
Self-subjugation, honesty, restraint 
Of all the sensual organs, purity, 
Devotion, knowledge of the Deity, 
Veracity, and abstinence from anger, 
These form the tenfold summary of duty. 

(vi. 92.) 
Long not for death, nor hanker after life ; 
Calmly expect thine own appointed time, 
E'en as a servant reckons on his hire. 

(iv. 45.) 
This mansion of the soul, composed of earth, 
Subject to sorrow and decrepitude, 
Inhabited by sicknesses and pains, 
Bound by the bonds of ignorance and darkness, 
Let a wise man with cheerfulness abandon. 

(vi. 7T.) 
Quitting this body, he resembles merely 
A bird that leaves a tree. Thus is he freed 
From the fell monster of an evil world. 

(vi. 78.) 



HESIOD 

(Eighth century, B. C.) 

"It is from the ' Works and Days ' and the introduction 
to the ' Theogony ' that we learn all we know about Hesiod's 
life. His father came from Cyme in iEolia and settled in 
Ascra, at the foot of Mount Helicon, in Bceotia. There, as 
far as we know, Hesiod spent his life. After his father's 
death he lost his share of his father's property in a lawsuit 
brought against him by his brother, Perses, who obtained a 
verdict by bribing the judges. This, however, seems not to 
have prevented Hesiod from obtaining, by careful farming, a 
livelihood sufficient to enable him to give assistance to his 
brother subsequently, when Perses was in need of aid. Nor 
did the work which he had to do prevent him from composing 
didactic poetry. . . . 

"The lawsuit with his brother was the occasion of Hesiod's 
composing the poem which now forms the first part of the 
' Works and Days ' ; the appeals of Perses for assistance 
afforded him the opportunity for giving the advice contained. 
. . . Under the title ' Works and Days ' there are comprised 
in all probability two works. There is the ' Works and 
Days ' proper, consisting of advice about farming and hus- 
bandry generally, and constituting the second half of the 
poem as it now stands. There is also another poem ad- 
dressed to Hesiod's brother and containing moral advice, 
which makes the first half of the poem in its present 
form. . . . 

"Hesiod's verses are not in themselves beautiful, nor does 
his subject, even when it of itself suggests poetical treat- 
ment, exalt his style above his ordinary prosaic level. He 
lacks imagination. But it is unfair to convert this into a 
reproach. His object was to give sound practical advice, and 
this he does in a practical if prosaic manner. . . . Verse 



72 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

was the proper vehicle for his ideas, not because they required 
poetical rendering, but because it was an aid to the mem- 
ory." — F. B. Jevons, " History of Greek Literature," pt. i. 
bk. i. ch. 6. 

"The Hesiodic poems contain certain pretended reminis- 
cences, and one of them, the ' Erga, ' is largely made up of 
addresses to Perses, assumed to be the poet's erring friend — 
in one part, his brother. "We have seen that the reminis- 
cences are fictions, and presumably Perses is a fiction too. 
If a real man had treacherously robbed Hesiod of his patri- 
mony by means of bribes to 'man-devouring princes,' Hesiod 
would scarcely have remained on intimate terms with him. 
Perses is a lay figure for the didactic epos to preach at, and 
as such he does his duty. . . . We have, then, no informa- 
tion of what Hesiod was — only a tradition of what Hesiod 
was supposed to be." — Gilbert Murray, "History of An- 
cient Greek Literature," ch. 2. 

ADVICE TO PERSES. 
(From Hesiod's "Works and Days," translated by C. A. Elton.) 

Most simple Perses ! I the good perceive, 
And willing tell thee, wouldst thou but believe : 
Choose Sin, by troops she shall beside thee stand : 
Smooth is the track, her mansion is at hand : 
Where Virtue dwells the gods have placed before 
The dropping sweat that springs from every pore ; 
And ere the foot can reach her high abode, 
Long, rugged, steep th' ascent, and rough the road : 
The ridge once gain'd, the path so hard of late 
Runs easy on, and level to the gate. 
Far best is he whom conscious wisdom guides, 
Who, first and last, the right and fit decides ; 
He too is good that to the wiser friend 
His docile reason can submissive bend ; 
But worthless he that Wisdom's voice defies, 
Nor wise himself, nor duteous to the wise. 



HESIOD 73 

• But thou, O Perses ! what my words impart 
Let memory bind forever on thy heart. 
O son of Dios ! labour evermore, 
That hunger turn abhorrent from thy door ; 
That Ceres bless'd with spiky garland crown'd, 
Greet thee with love, and bid thy barns abound. 

Still on the sluggard hungry want attends ; 
The scorn of man, the hate of Heaven impends ; 
While he, averse from labour, drags his days, 
Yet greedy on the gains of others preys ; 
E'en as the stingless drones devouring seize 
With glutted sloth the harvest of the bees. 
Love every seemly toil, that so the store 
Of foodful seasons heap thy garner's floor. 

Shame of ill sort shall still the needy bind ; 
Shame, which or greatly helps or hurts mankind : 
Shame leads to want ; to courage wealth is given ; 
No ravish'd riches ; best the boon of Heaven. 
He that shall heaps of hoarded gold command, 
By fraudful tongue, or by rapacious hand ; 
As oft betides, when lucre lights the flame, 
And shamelessness expels the better shame ; 
Him shall the god cast down, in darkness hurl'd, 
And that man's house be wasted from the world ; 
The wealth, for which he pawn'd his soul, decay, 
The breath and shining bubble of a day. 

Alike the man of sin is he confess'd, 
Who spurns the suppliant, and who wrongs the guest ; 
Who climbs, by lure of stol'n embraces led, 
With ill-timed act, a brother's marriage bed ; 
Who dares by crafty wickedness abuse 
His trust, and robs the orphans of their dues ; 
Who, on the threshold of afflictive age 



74 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

His hoary parent stings with taunting rage ; 
On him shall Jove in anger look from high, 
And deep requite the dark iniquity : 
But wholly thou from these refrain thy mind, 
Weak as it is, and wavering as the wind. 

With thy best means perform the ritual part, 
Outwardly pure, and spotless at the heart ; 
Now burn choice portions to the gods ; dispense 
Wine-offerings now, and smoke of frankincense ; 
When on the nightly couch thy limbs repose, 
Or sacred light from far its coming shows : 
So shall they yearn to thee with soul benign, 
And thou buy others' land, not others thine. 

Bid to thy feast a friend ; thy foe forbear ; 
Let a next neighbour chief thy welcome share ; 
In household calls th' ungirded neighbours run, 
But kinsmen gird them when thy work is done. 
As the good neighbour is our prop and stay, 
So is the bad a pitfall in our way : 
Thus bless'd or curs'd, we this or that obtain, 
The first a blessing, and the last a bane. 
How should thine ox by chance untimely die ? 
The evil neighbour looks and passes by. 

Measure thy neighbour's loan, and strict repay ; 
Give more, if more thou canst ; some future day 
His ready hand thy needy call supplies ; 
But shun bad gains, those losses in disguise. 
Love him who loves thee ; to the kind draw nigh ; 
Give to the giver, but the churl pass by. 
Men fill the giving, not th' ungiving hand ; 
The gift is good, but Rapine walks the land, 
Squand'ring the seeds of death ; though much he give, 
The willing donor shall rejoice and live : 
Th' extortioner of bold unblushing sin, 
Though small the plunder, feels a thorn within. 



HESIOD 75 

If with a little thou a little blend 
Continual, mighty shall the heap ascend. 
Who bids his gather'd substance gradual grow 
Shall see not livid hunger's face of woe. 
No bosom pang attends the home-laid store, 
But fraught with loss the food without thy door. 
'T is good to take from hoards, and pain to need 
What is far from thee : — give the precept heed. 

Spare the mid-cask ; when broach'd or low, drink free ; 
Bad is the thrift that spares it on the lee. 
Let thy friend's service guerdon fit receive ; 
Not e'en thy brother on his word believe, 
But, as in laughter, set a witness by ; 
Mistrust destroys us, and credulity. 



THE SEVEN WISE MEN OF GREECE 

(Seventh and sixth centuries before Christ.) 

THEIR NAMES AND PRINCIPAL SAYINGS. 

(From a Greek epigram, translated by Lord Neaves, in " The Greek 
Anthology" ["Ancient Classics for English Readers"].) 

I 'll tell the names and sayings and the places of their 

birth, 
Of the Seven great ancient Sages, so renowned on Gre- 
cian earth : 
The Lindian Cleobulus said — " The mean was still the 

best : " 
The Spartan Chilo, " know thyself," a heav'n-born phrase 

confessed : 
Corinthian Periander taught, " Our anger to command : " 
" Too much of nothing," Pittacus, from Mitylene's strand : 
Athenian Solon this advised, " Look to the end of life : " 
And Bias from Priene showed, " Bad men are the most 

rife : " 
Milesian Thales urged that " None should e'er a surety 

be:" 
Few were their words, but, if you look, you '11 much in 

little see. 



BUDDHISM 

(Sixth century before Christ.) 

The founder of the religion known as Buddhism was Gau- 
tama, son of the Rajah of the Sakyas, an Aryan tribe, whose 
capital town was called Kapilavastu (identified with the mod- 
ern village of Nagara), about one hundred miles northeast 
of Benares, in India. The date of his birth has not been 
determined with certainty, but it was probably not far from 
the middle of the sixth century before Christ. Early in life 
Gautama became profoundly impressed with the misery and 
suffering in the world, and in his twenty-ninth year he sud- 
denly abandoned his home, his princely station, his wife and 
child, and devoted himself, in a life of mendicancy, to the 
search for knowledge that might cure the sorrows of mankind . 
One teacher after another disappointed his hopes, but light 
reached him at last, and he became Buddha — that is, the 
Enlightened. The secret of human misery that he believed to 
have been revealed to him is substantially this : that suffer- 
ing and sorrow are inseparable from the consciousness of in- 
dividuality ; that the world, acting on that consciousness, 
through the senses, produces in men cravings and affections 
which torment them, and a lust of life that life cannot sat- 
isfy. To overcome this lust of life is to win emancipation 
from individual consciousness, and so escape from sorrow. 
The means by which such a conquest is attained are right 
views, right feelings, right words, right behavior, right mode 
of livelihood, right exertion, right memory, right meditation 
and tranquillity ; and the ten evil states of mind to be con- 
quered are delusion of self, doubt, dependence on rites, sen- 
suality, hatred, love of life on earth, desire for life in heaven, 
pride, self - righteousness, ignorance. Buddhism, therefore, 
is not so much a religion as an ethical system, or system of 
moral culture. 



78 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

THE EIGHT PRECEPTS AND TEN COMMANDMENTS 
OF BUDDHISM. 

(From "Buddhism," by T. W. Rhys Davids.) 

1. One should not destroy life. 

2. One should not take that which is not given. 

3. One should not tell lies. 

4. One should not become a drinker of intoxicating 
liquors. 

5. One should refrain from unlawful sexual intercourse 
— an ignoble thing. 

6. One should not eat unseasonable food at night. 

7. One should not wear garlands or use perfumes. 

8. One should sleep on a mat spread on the ground. 
Such, they say, is the eight-fold sacred formula declared 

by Buddha, who came amongst us to put an end to sorrows. 
. . . With regard to these commandments, the first five, 
placed above in the mouth of Gautama himself, . . . are 
called the five commandments, par excellence, . . . and 
are binding on every Buddhist. . . . These eight pre- 
cepts, together with two others — viz. 9, to abstain from 
dancing, music, singing and stage plays; and, 10, to ab- 
stain from the use of gold and silver — are the Ten Com- 
mandments binding on the mendicants. . . . 

Besides the above division of moral duties into the five 
obligatory and three permissive precepts, there is another 
division into ten sins, which are : 
Three of the body : 

Taking life. 

Theft (taking what has not been given). 

Unlawful sexual intercourse. 
Four of speech : 

Lying. 






BUDDHISM 79 

Slander (" saying here what one hears there "). 
Abuse (swearing). 
Vain conversation. 
Three of the mind : 
Covetousness. 
Malice. 
Skepticism. 

BUDDHIST BEATITUDES. 
(From a translation quoted by T. W. Rhys Davids in " Buddhism.") 
A deva speaks — 

1. Many angels and men 

Have held various things blessings, 
When they were yearning for happiness. 
Do thou declare to us the chief good. 

Gautama answers — 

2. Not to serve the foolish, 
But to serve the wise ; 

To honour those worthy of honour : 
This is the greatest blessing. 

3. To dwell in a pleasant land, 

Good works done in a former birth, 
Eight desires in the heart : 

This is the greatest blessing. 

4. Much insight and education, 
Self-control and pleasant speech, 
And whatever word be well-spoken : 

This is the greatest blessing. 



80 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

5. To support father and mother, 
To cherish wife and child, 

To follow a peaceful calling: 

This is the greatest blessing. 

6. To bestow alms and live righteously, 
To give help to kindred, 

Deeds which cannot be blamed : 

These are the greatest blessing. 

7. To abhor, and cease from sin, 
Abstinence from strong drink, 
Not to be weary in well-doing, 

These are the greatest blessing. 

8. Reverence and lowliness, 
Contentment and gratitude, 

The hearing of the Law at due seasons, 
This is the greatest blessing. 

9. To be long-suffering and meek, 

To associate with the tranquil (i. e. Buddhist 

monks), 
Religious talk at due seasons, 

This is the greatest blessing. 

10. Self-restraint and purity, 

The knowledge of the Noble Truths, 
The realization of Nirvana, 

This is the greatest blessing. 

11. Beneath the stroke of life's changes, 
The mind that shaketh not, 
Without grief or passion, and secure, 

This is the greatest blessing. 



BUDDHISM 81 



12. On every side are invincible 
They who do acts like these, 
On every side they walk in safety, 

And theirs is the greatest blessing. 



SELECTIONS FROM THE DHAMMAPADA 

(Translated by F. Max Miiller, " Sacred Books of the East," v. 10.) 

"The Dhammapada " is one of the canonical sacred books 
of the Buddhists. Its title has been interpreted in various 
ways, as meaning "Footsteps of Religion," "Paths of Reli- 
gion," "Path of Virtue," "Sentences of Religion." 

In his introduction to the translation from which the sub- 
joined precepts are quoted, Professor F. Max Miiller says : 
"I cannot see any reason why we should not treat the verses 
of the Dhammapada, if not as the utterances of Buddha, at 
least as what were believed by the members of the Council 
under Asoka, in 242 b. c, to have been the utterances of 
the founder of their religion." 

He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses 
well controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, 
him Mara will certainly not overthrow, any more than 
the wind throws down a rocky mountain. 

Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), 
thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in 
earnest do not die ; those who are thoughtless are as if 
dead already. 

If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, 
or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey ; 
there is no companionship with a fool. 

Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low peo- 
ple for friends ; have virtuous people for friends, have for 
friends the best of men. 

If a man would hasten towards the good, he should 



THE DIIAMMAPADA 83 

keep his thought away from evil ; if a man does what is 
good slothfully, his mind delights in evil. 

If a man does what is good, let him do it again ; let 
him delight in it : happiness is the outcome of good. 

Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart, 
It will not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of 
water-drops a water-pot is filled ; the fool becomes full of 
evil, even if he gather it little by little. 

Do not speak harshly to anybody ; those who are 
spoken to will answer thee in the same way. . . . 

If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself 
carefully ; during one at least out of the three watches a 
wise man should be watchful. 

Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord ? 
With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few 
can find. 

Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of an- 
other's, however great. . . . 

Rouse thyself ! do not be idle ! Follow the law of 
virtue ! The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in 
the next. 

Look upon the world as a bubble, look upon it as a 
mirage : the king of death does not see him who thus 
looks down upon the world. 

Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us ! 
Among men who hate us, let us dwell free from hatred. 

Let us live happily then, free from greed among the 
greedy ! Among men who are greedy let us dwell free 
from greed. 

Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our 
own ! We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on 
happiness ! 

Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. 
He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the 
contented, is happy. 



84 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, 
him I call a real driver ; other people are but holding the 
reins. 

Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome 
evil by good, let him overcome the greedy by liberality, 
the liar by truth. 

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger ; give, if thou 
art asked for little ; by these three steps thou wilt go 
near the gods. 

Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a 
smith blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little 
by little, and from time to time. 

Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame, a 
crow hero, a mischief-maker, an insulting, bold, and 
wretched fellow. 

But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always 
looks for what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spot- 
less, and intelligent. 

If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure, 
let a wise man leave the small pleasure and look to the 
great. 

Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by thyself, 
thus self -protected and attentive wilt thou live happily. . . . 

What is the use of platted hair, O fool ! what of the 
raiment of goat-skins ? Within thee there is ravening, 
but the outside thou makest clean. 



PYTHAGOKAS 

(Probably of the sixth century before Christ.) 

Of Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, many legends were 
current in later times among the Greeks, but almost no in- 
formation that is trustworthy has been found. Some have 
suspected that a myth is concealed under his name; but it is 
probable that a real Pythagoras — a primitive man of science 
and a born teacher and leader of men — did exist at some 
time in the sixth century before Christ; that he was a native 
of Samos, but established himself as a teacher at Crotona, in 
Italy; that he founded there and elsewhere in Magna Graecia 
a brotherhood of disciples, who made a secret, to some extent, 
of their knowledge and their beliefs, and who became, for 
some reason, obnoxious to the people, and were mercilessly 
attacked. The Pythagorean brotherhood survived persecu- 
tion, and continued for some time, in various cities of Magna 
Graecia, to be known as a philosophical or religious sect. Its 
members believed in the transmigration of souls, and there 
seems to be little doubt that this was fundamental in the 
teaching of Pythagoras. Their doctrines in morals were of 
a high order, and they probably derived them, in the main, 
from their greatly venerated master. There seems to be, 
moreover, no reason to doubt that he made important discov- 
eries in mathematics, in astronomy, and in the principles of 
musical harmony, which the Pythagoreans attributed to him. 
But various writings ascribed to him are fully believed to be 
the work of disciples, at a later time. Among them are 
the so-called "Golden Verses of Pythagoras," of which a 
translation is given below. We are only permitted to believe 
that these verses may represent somewhat nearly the morals 
that Pythagoras taught. The same is possible in the case 
of the appended "Pythagoric Sentences of Demophilus, " the 
nominal author of which is entirely unknown. 



86 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS. 

(Translated from the Greek by Nicholas Rowe.) 

First to the Gods thy humble Homage pay ; 

The greatest this, and first of Laws obey : 

Perform thy Vows, observe thy plighted Troth, 

And let Religion bind thee to thy Oath. 

The Heroes next demand thy just regard, 

Eenown'd on Earth, and to the Stars preferr'd, 

To Light and endless Life their Virtues sure Reward. 

Due Rites perform and Honours to the Dead, 

To ev'ry Wise, to ev'ry pious Shade. 

With lowly Duty to thy Parents bow, 

And Grace and Favour to thy Kindred show : 

For what concerns the rest of Human-kind, 

Chuse out the Man to Virtue best inclin'd ; 

Him to thy Arms receive, him to thy Bosom bind. 

Possest of such a Friend, preserve him still ; 

Nor thwart his Counsels with thy stubborn Will ; 

Pliant to all his Admonitions prove, 

And yield to all his Offices of Love : 

Him, from thy Heart, so true, so justly dear, 

Let no rash Word nor light Offences tear. 

Bear all thou canst, still with his Failings strive, 

And to the utmost still, and still forgive ; 

For strong Necessity alone explores, 

The secret Vigour of our latent Pow'rs, 

Rouses and urges on the lazy Heart, 

Force, to its self unknown before, t' exert. 

By use thy stronger Appetites asswage, 

Thy Gluttony, thy Sloath, thy Lust, thy Rage : 

From each dishonest Act of Shame forbear ; 

Of others, and thy self, alike beware. 






PYTHAGORAS 87 

Let Rev'rence of thy self thy Thoughts controul, 

And guard the sacred Temple of thy Soul. 

Let Justice o'er thy Word and Deed preside, 

And Reason ev'n thy meanest Actions guide : 

For know that Death is Man's appointed Doom. 

Know that the Day of great Account will come, 

When thy past Life shall strictly be survey'd, 

Each Word, each Deed be in the Ballance laid, 

And all the Good and all the 111 most justly be repaid. 

For Wealth the perishing, uncertain Good, 

Ebbing and flowing like the fickle Flood, 

That knows no sure, no fix'd abiding Place, 

But wandering Loves from Hand to Hand to pass, 

Revolve the Getter's Joy and Looser's Pain, 

And think if it be worth thy while to gain. 

Of all those Sorrows that attend Mankind, 

With Patience bear the Lot to thee assign 'd ; 

Nor think it Chance, nor murmur at the Load ; 

For know what Man calls Fortune is from God. 

In what thou mayst from Wisdom seek Relief, 

And let her healing Hand asswage the Grief ; 

Yet still whate'er the Righteous Doom ordains, 

What Cause soever multiplies thy Pains, 

Let not those Pains as Ills be understood, 

For God delights not to afflict the Good. 

The Reas'ning Art to various Ends apply'd, 

Is oft a sure, but oft an erring Guide. 

Thy Judgment, therefore, sound and cool preserve, 

Nor light^ from thy Resolution swerve ; 

The dazzling Pomp of Words does oft deceive, 

And sweet Persuasion wins the easie to believe. 

When Fools and Liars labour to persuade, 
Be dumb, and let the Bablers vainly plead. 



88 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

This above all, this Precept chiefly learn, 
This nearly does, and first, thy self concern; 
Let no Example, let no soothing Tongue, 
Prevail upon thee with a Syren's Song, 
To do thy Soul's Immortal Essence wrong. 
Of Good and 111 by Words or Deeds exprest, 
Chuse for thy self, and always chuse the best. 

Let wary thought each Enterprize forerun, 

And ponder on thy Task before begun, 

Lest Folly should the wretched Work deface, 

And mock thy fruitless Labours with Disgrace. 

Fools huddle on and always are in haste, 

Act without Thought, and thoughtless Words they waste, 

But thou in all thou dost, with early Cares 

Strive to prevent at first a Fate like theirs ; 

That Sorrow on the End may never wait, 

Nor sharp Repentance make thee Wise too late. 

Beware thy medling Hand in ought to try, 

That does beyond thy reach of Knowledge lye ; 

But seek to know, and bend thy serious Thought 

To search the profitable Knowledge out. 

So Joys on Joys for ever shall encrease, 

Wisdom shall crown thy Labours, and shall bless 

Thy Life with Pleasure, and thy End with Peace. 

Nor let the Body want its Part, but share 

A just Proportion of thy tender Care : 

For Health and Welfare prudently provide, 

And let its lawful Wants be all supply'd. 

Let sober Draughts refresh, and wholsome Fare 

Decaying Nature's wasted Force repair ; 

And sprightly Exercise the duller Spirits chear. 

In all Things still which to this Care belong, 

Observe this Rule, to guard thy Soul from Wrong. 



PYTHAGORAS 89 

By virtuous Use thy Life and Manners frame, 

Manly and simply pure, and free from Blame. 

Provoke not Envy's deadly Rage, but fly 

The glancing Curse of her malicious Eye. 

Seek not in needless Luxury to waste 

Thy Wealth and Substance, with a Spendthrift's Haste ; 

Yet flying these, be watchful, lest thy Mind, 

Prone to Extreams, an equal Danger find, 

And be to sordid Avarice inclin'd. 

Distant alike from each, to neither lean, 

But ever keep the happy Golden Mean. 

Be careful still to guard thy Soul from Wrong, 

And let thy Thought prevent thy Hand and Tongue. 

Let not the stealing God of Sleep surprize 

Nor creep in Slumbers on thy weary Eyes, 

E'er ev'ry Action of the former Day 

Strictly thou dost and righteously survey. 

With Rev'rence at thy own Tribunal stand, 

And answer justly to thy own Demand : 

Where have I been ? In what have I transgress'd ? 

What Good or 111 has this Day's Life express'd ? 

Where have I f ail'd in what I ought to do ? 

In what to God, to Man, or to my self I owe ? 

Inquire severe whate'er from first to last, 

From Morning's Dawn 'till Ev'ning's Gloom has past. 

If Evil were thy Deeds, repenting mourn, 

And let thy Soul with strong Remorse be torn. 

If Good, the Good with Peace of Mind repay, 

And to thy secret Self with Pleasure say, 

Rejoice, my Heart, for all went well to Day. 

These Thoughts and chiefly these thy Mind should move, 

Employ thy Study, and engage thy Love. 

These are the Rules which will to Virtue lead, 

And teach thy Feet her Heav'nly Paths to tread. 



90 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

THE PYTHAGORIC SENTENCES OF DEMOPHILUS. 

(Translated from the Greek by Thomas Taylor.) 

1. Request not of Divinity such things as, when ob- 
tained, you cannot preserve ; for no gift of Divinity can 
ever be taken away ; and on this account he does not con- 
fer that which you are unable to retain. 

2. Be vigilant in your intellectual part ; for sleep about 
this has an affinity with real death. 

3. Divinity sends evil to men, not as being influenced 
by anger, but for the sake of purification ; for anger is 
foreign from Divinity, since it arises from circumstances 
taking place contrary to the will ; but nothing contrary to 
the will can happen to a god. 

4. When you deliberate whether or not you shall injure 
another, you will previously suffer the evil yourself which 
you intended to commit. But neither must you expect 
any good from the evil ; for the manners of every one are 
correspondent to his life and actions. Every soul, too, is 
a repository, that which is good, of things good, and that 
which is evil, of things depraved. 

5. After long consultation, engage either in speaking 
or acting ; for you have not the ability to recall either 
your words or deeds. 

6. Divinity does not principally esteem the tongue, but 
the deeds of the wise ; for a wise man, even when he is 
silent, honours Divinity. 

7. A loquacious and ignorant man both in prayer and 
sacrifice contaminates a divine nature. The wise man, 
therefore, is alone a priest, is alone the friend of Divinity, 
and only knows how to pray. 

8. The wise man being sent hither naked, should naked 
invoke him by whom he was sent ; for he alone is heard 
by Divinity, who is not burdened with foreign concerns. 






PYTHAGORAS 91 

9. It is impossible to receive from Divinity any gift 
greater than virtue. 

10. Gifts and victims confer no honour on Divinity, nor 
is he adorned with offerings suspended in temples ; but a 
soul divinely inspired solidly conjoins us with Divinity ; 
for it is necessary that like should approach to like. 

11. It is more painful to be subservient to passions than 
to tyrants themselves. 

12. It is better to converse more with yourself than 
with others. 

13. If you are always careful to remember, that in 
whatever place either your soul or body accomplishes any 
deed, Divinity is present as an inspector of your conduct ; 
in all your words and actions you will venerate the pre- 
sence of an inspector from whom nothing can be concealed, 
and will, at the same time, possess Divinity as an intimate 
associate. 

14. Believe that you are furious and insane in propor- 
tion as you are ignorant of yourself. 

15. It is necessary to search for those wives and chil- 
dren which will remain after a liberation from the pre- 
sent life. 

16. The self-sufficient and needy philosopher lives a 
life truly similar to Divinity, and considers the non-pos- 
session of external and unnecessary goods as the greatest 
wealth. For the acquisition of riches sometimes inflames 
desire ; but not to act in any respect unjustly is sufficient 
to the enjoyment of a blessed life. 

17. True goods are never produced by indolent habits. 

18. Esteem that to be eminently good, which, when 
communicated to another, will be increased to yourself. 

19. Esteem those to be eminently your friends, who 
assist your soul rather than your body. 

20. Consider both the praise and reproach of every 



92 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

foolish person as ridiculous, and the whole life of an igno- 
rant man as a disgrace. 

21. Endeavour that your familiars may reverence 
rather than fear you ; for love attends upon reverence, 
but hatred upon fear. 

22. The sacrifices of fools are the aliment of the fire ; 
but the offerings which they suspend in temples are the 
supplies of the sacrilegious. 

23. Understand that no dissimulation can be long con- 
cealed. 

24. The unjust man suffers greater evil while his soul 
is tormented with a consciousness of guilt, than when his 
body is scourged with whips. 

25. It is by no means safe to discourse concerning 
Divinity with men of false opinions; for the danger is 
equally great in speaking to such as these, things either 
fallacious or true. 

26. By every where using reason as your guide, you 
will avoid the commission of crimes. 

27. By being troublesome to others, you will not easily 
escape molestation yourself. 

28. Consider that as great erudition, through which 
you are able to bear the want of erudition in the ignorant. 

29. He who is depraved does not listen to the divine 
law, and on this account lives without law. 

30. A just man who is a stranger, is not only superior 
to a citizen, but is even more excellent than a relation. 

31. As many passions of the soul, so many fierce and 
savage despots. 

32. No one is free who has not obtained the empire of 
himself. 

33. Labour together with continence precedes the ac- 
quisition of every good. 

34. Be persuaded that those things are not your riches 



PYTHAGORAS 93 

which you do not possess in the penetralia of the reason- 
ing power. 

35. Do that which you judge to be beautiful and 
honest, though you should acquire no glory from the per- 
formance ; for the vulgar is a depraved judge of beautiful 
deeds. 

36. Make trial of a man rather from his deeds than 
his discourses ; for many live badly and speak well. 

37. Perform great things, at the same time promising 
nothing great. 

38. Since the roots of our natures are established in 
Divinity, from which also we are produced, we should 
tenaciously adhere to our root ; for streams also of water, 
and other offspring of the earth, when their roots are cut 
off become rotten and dry. 

39. The strength of the soul is temperance ; for this 
is the light of a soul destitute of passions ; but it is much 
better to die than to darken the soul through the intem- 
perance of the body. 

40. You cannot easily denominate that man happy who 
depends either on his friends or children, or on any fleet- 
ing and fallen nature ; for all these are unstable and un- 
certain ; but to depend on oneself and on Divinity is 
alone stable and firm. 

41. He is a wise man, and beloved by Divinity, who 
studies how to labour for the good of his soul, as much as 
others labour for the sake of the body. 

42. Yield all things to their kindred and ruling nature 
except liberty. 

43. Learn how to produce eternal children, not such as 
may supply the wants of the body in old age, but such as 
may nourish the soul with perpetual food. 

44. It is impossible that the same person can be a lover 
of pleasure, a lover of body, a lover of riches, and a lover 



94 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

of Divinity. For a lover of pleasure is also a lover of 
body ; but a lover of body is entirely a lover of riches ; 
a lover of riches is necessarily unjust ; and the unjust is 
necessarily profane towards Divinity, and lawless with 
respect to men. Hence, though he should sacrifice heca- 
tombs, he is only by this mean the more impious, unholy, 
atheistical, and sacrilegious, with respect to his intention : 
and on this account it is necessary to avoid every lover of 
pleasure as an atheist and polluted person. 

45. The Divinity has not a place in the earth more 
allied to his nature than a pure and holy soul. 



THE MAHA-BHAKATA 

(Probably from the fifth century before Christ.) 

The Maha-iuiarata, one of the two great epic poems of 
the Hindus, is, says Sir Monier Monier- Williams, "probably 
by far the longest epic poem that the world has ever pro- 
duced. Its main design is to describe the great contest be- 
tween the descendants of King Bharata. He was the most 
renowned monarch of the Lunar dynasty, and is alleged to 
have reigned in the neighborhood of Hastinapur or ancient 
Delhi, and to have extended his authority over a great part 
of India, so that India to this day is called by the natives 
Bharata-varsha. The great epic, however, is not so much a 
poem with a single subject as a cyclopedia or thesaurus of 
Hindu mythology, legendary history, ethics, and philosophy. 
The work, as we now possess it, cannot possibly be regarded 
as representing the original form of the poem. Its compila- 
tion appears to have proceeded gradually for centuries." In 
the opinion of Sir Monier, the first version of the poem should 
be dated early in the fifth century before Christ. 

In his excellent work on the sacred and philosophical liter- 
ature of India, entitled "Indian "Wisdom," Sir Monier gives 
some translations from the moral precepts of the Maha-bha- 
rata, and the following selections are borrowed from them : — 



SELECTIONS FROM THE MORAL PRECEPTS OF THE MAHA- 
BHARATA. 

(From " Indian Wisdom," by Sir Monier Monier- Williams.) 

Conquer a man who never gives by gifts ; 
Subdue untruthful men by truthfulness ; 
Vanquish an angry man by gentleness ; 
And overcome the evil man by goodness. 

(iii. 13253.) 



96 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

To injure none by thought or word or deed, 
To give to others, and be kind to all — 
This is the constant duty of the good. 
High-minded men delight in doing good, 
Without a thought of their own interest ; 
When they confer a benefit on others, 
They reckon not on favours in return. 

(iii. 16782, 16796.) 
Two persons will hereafter be exalted 
Above the heavens — the man with boundless power 
Who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, 
And he who is not rich and yet can give. 

(v. 1028.) 
Bear railing words with patience, never meet 
An angry man with anger, nor return 
Reviling for reviling, smite not him 
Who smites thee ; let thy speech and acts be gentle. 

(v. 1270, 9972.) 
If thou art wise, seek ease and happiness 
In deeds of virtue and of usefulness ; 
And ever act in such a way by day 
That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be ; 
And so comport thyself when thou art young, 
That when thou art grown old, thine age may pass 
In calm serenity. So ply thy task 
Throughout thy life, that when thy days are ended, 
Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter. 

(v. 1248.) 
Esteem that gain a loss which ends in harm ; 
Account that loss a gain which brings advantage. 

(v. 1451.) 
Do naught to others which if done to thee 
Would cause thee pain ; this is the sum of duty. 

(v. 1517.) 



THE MAHA-BIIARATA 97 

He who lets slip his opportunity, 
And turns not the occasion to account, 
Though he may strive to execute his work, 
Finds not again the fitting time for action. 

(xii. 3814.) 
Enjoy thou the prosperity of others, 
Although thyself unprosperous ; noble men 
Take pleasure in their neighbour's happiness. 

(xii. 3880.) 
Be active now, 
While thou art young, and time is still thine own. 
This very day perform to-morrow's work, 
This very morning do thy evening's task. 
When duty is discharged, then if thou live, 
Honour and happiness will be thy lot, 
And if thou die, supreme beatitude. 

(xii. 6534.) 
This is the sum of all true righteousness — 
Treat others, as thou would'st thyself be treated. 
Do nothing to thy neighbour, which hereafter 
Thou would'st not have thy neighbour do to thee. 
In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, 
In doing good, or injury to others, 
In granting, or refusing a request, 
A man obtains a proper rule of action 
By looking on his neighbour as himself. 

(xiii. 5571.) 
Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh ; 
Before decay impairs thy strength and mars 
The beauty of thy limbs ; before the Ender, 
Whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, 
Breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life, 
Lay up the only treasure: do good deeds ; 



98 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Practice sobriety and self-control ; 
Amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract, 
Nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, 
Which never wastes away, nor is corrupted. 

(xiii. 12084.) 



CONFUCIUS 

(B. C. 551^78.) 

The birth of Confucius is believed to have occurred in the 
year 551 b. c. "Of the parents of the Sage we know but 
little, except that his father, Shuh-leang Heih, was a mili- 
tary officer, eminent for his commanding stature, his great 
bravery, and immense strength, and that his mother's name 
was Yen Ching-tsai. The marriage of this couple took place 
when Heih was seventy years old, and the prospects, there- 
fore, of his having an heir having been but slight, unusual 
rejoicings commemorated the birth of the son, who was des- 
tined to achieve such everlasting fame. ... Of the early 
years of Confucius we have but scanty record. It would 
seem that from his childhood he showed ritualistic tendencies, 
and we are told that as a boy he delighted to play at the 
arrangement of vessels and at postures of ceremony. As he 
advanced in years he became an earnest student of history, 
and looked back with love and reverence to the time when 
the great and good Yaou and Shun [sovereigns of the legend- 
ary dawn of Chinese history] reigned in — 

* A golden age, fruitful of golden deeds.' 

"At the age of fifteen 'he bent his mind to learning,' and 
when he was nineteen years old he married a lady from the 
state of Sung. As has befallen many other great men, Con- 
fucius 's married life was not a happy one, and he finally di- 
vorced his wife, not, however, before she had borne him a 
son. 

"Soon after his marriage, at the instigation of poverty, 
Confucius accepted the office of keeper of the stores of grain, 
and in the following year he was promoted to be guardian of 
the public fields and lands. ... At the age of twenty- two 
we find Confucius released from the toils of office and devot- 
ing his time to the more congenial task of imparting instruc- 

LofC. 



100 • A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

tion to a band of admiring and earnest students." From 
about the age of thirty until his death the career of Confu- 
cius may be described as that of an itinerant teacher and re- 
former. He journeyed from court to court of the struggling, 
ephemeral states which composed the troubled empire, offering 
counsel to the rulers in turn and sometimes holding important 
offices for a season, but having little success on the whole. 
He had faithful disciples who adhered to him throughout, and 
his fame as a sage grew great even in his lifetime. He died 
in 478 b. c. at the age of seventy-three. 

"There is nothing spiritual in the teachings of Confucius. 
He rather avoided all references to the supernatural. In 
answer to a question about death, he answered, 'While you 
do not know life, how do you know about death. ' Life, then, 
was his study, and life as represented by man as he exists." 
— Robert K. Douglas, "Confucianism and Taouism." 

SIXTEEN CONFUCIAN MAXIMS. 

(From " Confucianism and Taouism," by Robert K. Douglas.) 

Towards the close of the seventeenth century the Em- 
peror K'ang-he . . . issued sixteen maxims, founded on 
the teachings of the Sage [Confucius], for the guidance of 
the people, whose morality " had for some time been daily 
declining, and whose hearts were not as of old." He thus 
summed up, as it were, all the essential points in the Con- 
fucian doctrine, and thus he wrote : — 

1. Esteem most highly filial piety and brotherly sub- 
mission, in order to give due prominence to the social 
relations. 

2. Behave with generosity to the branches of your kin- 
dred, in order to illustrate harmony and benignity. 

3. Cultivate peace and concord in your neighbourhoods, 
in order to prevent quarrels and litigations. 

4. Recognise the importance of husbandry and the cul- 
ture of the mulberry-tree, in order to ensure a sufficiency 
of clothing and food. 



CONFUCIUS 101 

5. Show that you prize moderation and economy, in 
order to prevent the lavish waste of your means. 

6. Make much of the colleges and seminaries, in order 
to make correct the practice of the scholars. 

7. Discountenance and banish strange doctrines, in 
order to exalt the correct doctrine. 

8. Describe and explain the laws, in order to warn the 
ignorant and obstinate. 

9. Exhibit clearly propriety and yielding courtesy, in 
order to make manners and customs good. 

10. Labour diligently at your proper callings, in order 
to give settlement to the aims of the people. 

11. Instruct sons and younger brothers, in order to 
prevent them from doing what is wrong. 

12. Put a stop to false accusations, in order to protect 
the honest and the good. 

13. Warn against sheltering deserters, in order to 
avoid being involved in their punishments. 

14. Promptly and fully pay your taxes, in order to 
avoid the urgent requisition of your quota. 

15. Combine in hundreds and tithings, in order to put 
an end to thefts and robbery. 

16. Study to remove resentments and angry feelings, 
in order to show the importance due to the person and 
life. 

CONFUCIAN ANALECTS. 
(From " The Life and Teachings of Confucius," by James Legge.) 

Tsze-kung asked, saying, " Is there one word which may 
serve as a rule of practice for all one's life ? " The Mas- 
ter said, " Is not reciprocity such a word ? What you 
do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." 

Confucius said, " There are three things which the su- 



102 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

perior man guards against. In youth, when the physical 
powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When 
he is strong, and the physical powers are full of vigour, 
he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old, and 
the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covet- 
ousness." 

Confucius said, "The superior man has nine things 
which are subjects with him of thoughtful consideration. 
In regard to the use of his eyes, he is anxious to see 
clearly. In regard to the use of his ears, he is anxious to 
hear distinctly. In regard to his countenance, he is anx- 
ious that it should be benign. In regard to his demean- 
our, he is anxious that it should be respectful. In regard 
to his speech, he is anxious that it should be sincere. In 
regard to his doing of business, he is anxious that it should 
be reverently careful. In regard to what he doubts about, 
he is anxious to question others. When he is angry, he 
thinks of the difficulties his anger may involve him in. 
When he sees gain to be got, he thinks of righteousness." 



THE STOKYOF AHIKAR 

Mr. F. C. Conybeare, Dr. J. Rendel Harris, and Mrs. 
Agnes Smith Lewis, published, in 1898, six versions, from 
the Syriac, the Arabic, the Armenian, the Ethiopic, the 
Greek, and the Slavonic languages, of a story of great anti- 
quity, which has been found in many forms, among many 
peoples, and the nucleus of which they believe to have been 
Biblical or semi-Biblical in origin. It seems to have come to 
modern notice first in connection with the tales of the Ara- 
bian Nights. "Whether," says Dr. Harris in his introduc- 
tion, "it be actually a part of the recitations by which for 
1001 nights the faithful and ingenious Scheherezade whiled 
away the impatience and wore out the mistrust and wrath of 
the Sultan, or whether it is only a supplement to that collec- 
tion, is not of immediate importance." That it comes from 
a very early time and was told far and wide in the ancient 
Eastern world is clearly shown. 

Ahikar, or Haykar, of whom the story is told, and whose 
maxims and wise sayings may be called the very marrow of 
it, is represented to have been the vizier of Sennacherib, king 
of Assyria, and "famous amongst men for his wisdom in all 
that concerned morality and politics." He had no son, but 
adopted a nephew, Nadan, or Nathan, to whom his precepts 
are addressed. Nadan, handsome in person, crafty in mind, 
specious in manner, proved to be "a goodly apple rotten at 
the core, " and his heartless ingratitude to the generous Ahikar 
is the theme of the tale. 

The precepts which follow are chosen from the Armenian 
version of the story, as translated in the work mentioned 
above. 

SELECTIONS FROM THE STORY OF AHIKAR. 

Son, be not like the olive tree, which is first to bloom 
and last to ripen its fruit. But be like the mulberry, 
which is last to bloom and first to ripen its fruit. 



104 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Son, be thou not over-sweet, so that they swallow thee 
down, nor over-bitter, so that they spit thee out. But 
do thou be gentle, tranquil in the works of thy paths and 
in all thy words. 

Son, while the boot is on thy foot, tread down the thorns 
and make a path for thy sons. 

Son, eat not bread that is not thine own, even though 
thou be very hungry. 

Son, if thy doorposts be loftily built to heaven as it 
were seven ells, whenever thou enterest, bow thy head. 

Son, take not from others with a big weight and give 
back to them with a little weight, and say : I have made 
a profit. For God gives it not, but will be wroth ; and 
thou wilt die of starvation. 

Son, swear not false, that of thy days there be no fail. 

Son, if lofty be the lintels of thy house, and thy friend 
be sick, say not : What shall I send him ? but go on foot 
and see him with thy eyes ; for that is better for him than 
a thousand talents of gold and silver. 

Son, keep thy tongue from evil speaking and thine eye 
from immodest glances, and thy right hand from steal- 
ing ; and it will be well for thee with God and man. For 
whether it be gold or little things that one steals, the 
punishment and the slaying is one and the same. 

Son, it is better to be blind of eye than blind of mind ; 
for he that is blind of eye is quick to learn the coming 
and going of the road. But the blind in mind forsakes 
the straight road, and walks according to his will. 

Son, it is better to garner with poverty than to squan- 
der with riches. 

Son, examine the word in thy heart and then utter it. 
For if thou alter the word, thou art a fawner. 

Son, if thou hearest an evil word about any one, hide it 
in thy heart seven fathoms deep ; so that the evil die and 
the good be fulfilled. 



THE STORY OF AHIKAR 105 

Son, I have eaten endive and I have drunk gall, and it 
was not more bitter than poverty. I have lifted salt and 
I have lifted lead, and it was not heavier than is debt. 

Son, it is better if they steal thy goods than that they 
detect theft in thee. 

Son, that which seems evil unto thee, do not to thy 
companion ; and what is not thine own, give not unto 
others. 

Son, love the truth and hate lawlessness and falsehood. 
Give ear unto the commandments of God, and fear not 
the evil one. For the commandment of God is the ram- 
part of man. 

They asked the sage and said : What is the most pleas- 
ing thing on earth ? He replied : Modesty. He that 
hath a modest face is pleasing. For all evils are born of 
impudence and folly. 



AEISTOTLE 

(B. C. 384-322.) 

"Aristotle was born in the year 384 b. c, at Stageira, a 
Grecian colony and seaport town on the Strymonic Gulf in 
Thrace, not far from Mount Athos — and, what is more im- 
portant, not far from the frontier of Macedonia, and from 
Pella, the residence of the Macedonian king Amyntas. To 
Stageira, his birthplace, he owed the world-famous appella- 
tion of ' the Stagirite, ' given to him by scholiasts and school- 
men in later days. ... . Aristotle's family were purely Hel- 
lenic, and probably the colonists of Stageira lived in strict 
conformity with Greek ideas, and not without contempt for 
the surrounding ' barbarians.' . . . Probably the mere local- 
ity of his birth produced but little influence upon him, except 
so far as it led to his subsequent connection with the court of 
Macedon. His father, Nicomachus, was physician to King 
Amyntas, and it is possible that the youthful Aristotle was 
taken at times to the court, and thus made the acquaintance 
of his future patron, Philip of Macedon, who was about his own 
age. But all through the time of Aristotle's boyhood, affairs 
in Macedonia were troubled and unprosperous. . . . Up to 
the time when he left his native city there had appeared no 
indication of that which afterwards occurred, — that Mace- 
donia would conquer the East, and become mistress of the 
entire liberties of Greece. . . . About the year 367 b. c, 
when he was seventeen years old, his father having recently 
died, he was sent by his guardian, Proxenus of Atarneus, to 
complete his studies at Athens, the ' metropolis of wisdom.' 
There he continued to reside for twenty years, during the 
greater part of which time he attended the school of philoso- 
phy which Plato had founded in the olive-groves of Academus, 
on the banks of the Cephisus. . . . Among his fellow-pupils 
in the Academe he is said to have got the sobriquet of ' the 
Reader ' ; while Plato himself called him ' the Mind of the 



ARISTOTLE 107 

School, ' in recognition of his quick and powerful intelli- 
gence. . . . 

"The writings of Aristotle are quite consistent with the 
tradition that he was for twenty years a pupil of the Aca- 
demic School. They show a long list of thoughts and expres- 
sions borrowed from the works of Plato, and also not unfre- 
quently refer to the oral teaching of Plato. They contain 
a logical, ethical, political, and metaphysical philosophy 
which is evidently, with some modifications, the organization 
and development of rich materials often rather suggested than 
worked out in the Platonic dialogues. Aristotle thus, in 
constructing a system of knowledge which was destined im- 
mensely to influence the thoughts of mankind, became, in the 
first place, the disciple of Plato and the intellectual heir of 
Socrates ; and summed up all the best that had been arrived 
at by the previous philosophers of Greece." 

In the year that Plato died, 347 b. c, Aristotle left 
Athens and resided for a few years, first at Atarneus, in 
Asia Minor, where he married, and then at Mitylene, in the 
island of Lesbos. He was then invited by Philip of Macedon 
to become the tutor of Alexander, and resided at the Mace- 
donian court until after the assassination of Philip (336 
b. c), when he returned to Athens. On the death of Alex- 
ander, 323 b. c, Aristotle was driven from Athens by the 
anti-Macedonian party, and retired to Chalcis in Eubcea, 
where he died the following year. 

"Perhaps it may be said, in a word, that Aristotle has 
contributed more than any one man to the scientific education 
of the world. The amount of the influence which he has 
exercised may be inferred from the traces which his system 
has left in all the languages of modern Europe. Our every- 
day conversation is full of Aristotelian ' fossils, ' that is, 
remnants of his peculiar phraseology. " — Sir Alexander 
Grant, "Aristotle " ("Ancient Classics for English Readers"). 



108 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

INJUNCTIONS FOR THE KEEPING OF "THE MEAN" 
BETWEEN EXCESS AND DEFECT. 

(From " The Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle," book 2, chap. ii. and 
ix. ; translated by D. P. Chase.) 

That we are to act in accordance with Right Reason is 
a general maxim, and may for the present be taken for 
granted. . . . But let this point be first thoroughly un- 
derstood between us, that all which can be said on moral 
action must be said in outline, as it were, and not exactly : 
for . . . such reasoning only must be required as the 
nature of the subject-matter admits of, and matters of 
moral action and expediency have no fixedness any more 
than matters of health. And if the subject in its general 
maxims is such, still less in its application to particular 
cases is exactness attainable : because these fall not under 
any art or system of rules, but it must be left in each 
instance to the individual agents to look to the exigencies 
of the particular case, as it is in the art of healing, or 
that of navigating a ship. Still, though the present sub- 
ject is confessedly such, we must try and do what we can 
for it. 

First, then, this must be noted, that it is the nature of 
such things to be spoiled by defect and excess ; as we see 
in the case of health and strength (since for the illustra- 
tion of things which cannot be seen we must use those 
that can), for excessive training impairs the strength as 
well as deficient : meat and drink, in like manner, in too 
great or too small quantities, impair the health : while in 
due proportion they cause, increase, and preserve it. 

Thus it is, therefore, with the habits of perfected Self- 
Mastery and Courage and the rest of the Virtues : for 
the man who flies from and fears all things, and never 
stands up against any thing, comes to be a coward ; and 



ARISTOTLE 109 

he who fears nothing, but goes at every thing, comes to 
be rash. In like manner, too, he that tastes of every 
pleasure and abstains from none, comes to lose all self- 
control ; while he who avoids all, as do the dull and clown- 
ish, comes as it were to lose his faculties of perception : 
that is to say, the habits of perfected Self-Mastery and 
Courage are spoiled by the excess and defect, but by the 
mean state are preserved. 

Furthermore, not only do the origination, growth, and 
marring of the habits come from and by the same circum- 
stances, but also the acts of working after the habits are 
formed will be exercised on the same : for so it is also with 
those other things which are more directly matters of 
sight, strength for instance : for this comes by taking 
plenty of food and doing plenty of work, and the man 
who has attained strength is best able to do these : and 
so it is with the Virtues, for not only do we by abstain- 
ing from pleasures come to be perfected in Self-Mastery, 
but when we have come to be so we can best abstain from 
them : similarly too with courage : for it is by accustom- 
ing ourselves to despise objects of fear and stand up 
against them that we come to be brave ; and after we 
have come to be so we shall be best able to stand up 
against such objects. 

And for a test of the formation of the habits we must 
take the pleasure or pain which succeeds the acts ; for he 
is perfected in Self-Mastery who not only abstains from 
the bodily pleasures but is glad to do so ; whereas he who 
abstains but is sorry to do it has not Self-Mastery : he 
again is brave who stands up against danger either with 
positive pleasure or at least without any pain ; whereas 
he who does it with pain is not brave. . . . 

There are principally three things moving us to choice, 
and three to avoidance, the honourable, the expedient, the 



110 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

pleasant ; and their three contraries, the dishonourable, 
the hurtful, and the painful ; now the good man is apt to 
go right, and the bad man wrong, with respect to all these 
of course, but most specially with respect to pleasure : 
because not only is this common to him with all animals, 
but also it is a concomitant of all those things which move 
to choice, since both the honourable and the expedient 
give an impression of pleasure. . . . 

That Moral Virtue is a mean state, and how it is so, 
and that it lies between two faulty states, one in the way 
of excess and another in the way of defect, and that it is 
so because it has an aptitude to aim at the mean both in 
feelings and actions, all this has been set forth fully and 
sufficiently. 

And so it is hard to be good : for surely hard it is in 
each instance to find the mean, just as to find the mean 
point or centre of a circle is not what any man can do, 
but only he who knows how : just so to be angry, to give 
money, and be expensive, is what any man can do and 
easy : but to do these to the right person, in due propor- 
tion, at the right time, with a right object, and in the 
right manner, this is not as before what any man can do 
nor is it easy : and for this cause goodness is rare and 
praiseworthy and noble. 

Therefore he who aims at the mean should make it his 
first care to keep away from that extreme which is more 
contrary than the other to the mean ; just as Calypso in 
Homer advises Ulysses — 

" Clear of this smoke and surge thy barque direct ; " 
because of the two extremes the one is always more, and 
the other less erroneous : and, therefore, since to hit 
exactly on the mean is difficult, one must take the least of 
the evils as the safest plan ; and this a man will be doing 
if he follows this method. 






ARISTOTLE 111 

We ou^ht also to take into consideration our own nat- 
ural bias ; which varies in each man's case and will be 
ascertained from the pleasure and pain arising in us. 
Furthermore, we should force ourselves off in the con- 
trary direction, because we shall find ourselves in the 
mean after we have removed ourselves far from the wrong 
side, exactly as men do in straightening bent timber. 

But in all cases we must guard most carefully against 
what is pleasant, and pleasure itself because we are not 
impartial judges of it. 

We ought to feel in fact towards pleasure as did the 
old counsellors toward Helen, and in all cases pronounce 
a similar sentence : for so by sending it away from us we 
shall err the less. 

Well, to speak very briefly, these are the precautions 
by adopting which we shall be best able to attain the 
mean. 

Still, perhaps, after all, it is a matter of difficulty, and 
especially in the particular instances : it is not easy, for 
instance, to determine exactly in what manner, with what 
persons, for what causes, and for what length of time, 
one ought to feel anger : for we ourselves sometimes praise 
those who are defective in this feeling, and we call them 
meek ; at another we term the hot-tempered manly and 
spirited. 

Then again, he who makes a small deflection from what 
is right, be it on the side of too much or too little, is not 
blamed, only he who makes a considerable one, for he 
cannot escape observation. But to what point or degree a 
man must err in order to incur blame it is not easy to de- 
termine exactly in words : nor in fact any of those points 
which are matter of perception by the Moral Sense : such 
questions are matters of detail and the decision of them 
rests with the Moral Sense. 



112 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

At all events thus much is plain, that the mean state is 
in all things praiseworthy, and that practically we must 
deflect sometimes towards excess, sometimes towards de- 
fect, because this will be the easiest method of hitting on 
the mean, that is, on what is right. 



ECCLESIASTICUS 

(Second century before Christ.) 

In his work on "Job and Solomon, or the Wisdom of the 
Old Testament," Professor Cheyne gives the following ac- 
count of the Apocryphal book entitled " The Wisdom of Jesus 
the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus : " "The author was, be- 
yond reasonable doubt, a contemporary of ' Simon the high 
priest, the son of Onias.' Now there were five high priests 
who bore the name of Simon or Simeon, two of whom, Simon 
I. (b. c. 310-290) and Simon II. (b. c. 219-199), have by 
different critics been thought of. The weight of argument 
is in favor of the second of the name, who was certainly the 
more important of the two, and who is referred to in the 
Talmud under the name of Simeon the Righteous. This is 
in accordance with the Greek translator's statement in his 
preface, that he was the grandson of the author, and we may 
conjecturally fix the composition of the book at about 180 
B. c. The translator himself came into Egypt, as he tells 
us, in the 38th year of King Euergetes (comp. Luke xxii. 
25). Now Euergetes II., Physkon, who must be here in- 
tended, began to reign jointly with his brother Philometer 
B. c. 170; his brother died b. c. 145, and he reigned alone 
for twenty-five years longer (till b. c. 116). Hence the 
translator's arrival in Egypt and possibly the translation 
itself fall within the year 132. The object of his work, we 
gather from the preface, was to correct the inequalities of 
moral and religious culture among the Jews of Egypt by- 
setting before them a standard and a lesson book of true 
religious wisdom." 



114 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



SELECTIONS FROM "THE WISDOM OF JESUS THE 
SON OF SIRACH, OR ECCLESIASTICUS." 

(From the Apocrypha.) 

CHAPTER III. 

Honour thy father and mother both in word and deed, 
that a blessing may come upon thee from them. 

My son, help thy father in his age, and grieve him not 
as long as he liveth. 

And if his understanding fail, have patience with him ; 
and despise him not when thou art in thy full strength. 

He that forsaketh his father is as a blasphemer ; and 
he that angereth his mother is cursed of God. 

My son, go on with thy business in meekness ; so shalt 
thou be beloved of him that is approved. 

The greater thou art, the more humble thyself, and 
thou shalt find favour before the Lord. 

Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, 
neither search the things that are above thy strength. 

But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with 
reverence ; for it is not needful for thee to see with thine 
eyes the things that are in secret. 

Be not curious in unnecessary matters : for more things 
are shewed unto thee than men understand. 

For many are deceived by their own vain opinion ; and 
an evil suspicion hath overthrown their judgment. 

A stubborn heart shall fare evil at the last; and he 
that loveth danger shall perish therein. 

IV. 

My son, defraud not the poor of his living, and make 
not the needy eyes to wait long. 

Make not a hungry soul sorrowful ; neither provoke a 
man in his distress. 



ECCLESIASTICUS 115 

Add not more trouble to a heart that is vexed ; and 
defer not to give to him that is in need. 

Reject not the supplication of the afflicted ; neither 
turn away thy face from a poor man. 

Turn not away thine eye from the needy, and give him 
none occasion to curse thee : 

For if he curse thee in the bitterness of his soul, his 
prayer shall be heard of him that made him. 

Get thyself the love of the congregation, and bow thy 
head to a great man. 

Let it not grieve thee to bow down thine ear to the 
poor, and give him a friendly answer with meekness. 

Deliver him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the 
oppressor ; and be not faint-hearted when thou sittest in 
judgment. 

Be as a father unto the fatherless, and instead of a 
husband unto their mother : so shalt thou be as a son of 
the Most High, and he shall love thee more than thy 
mother doth. 

Observe the opportunity, and beware of evil ; and be 
not ashamed when it concern eth thy soul. 

For there is a shame that bringeth sin ; and there is a 
shame which is glory and grace. 

In no wise speak against the truth ; but be abashed of 
the error of thine ignorance. 

Be not ashamed to confess thy sins; and force not the 
course of the river. 

Make not thyself an underling to a foolish man ; nei- 
ther accept the person of the mighty. 

Strive for the truth unto death, and the Lord shall 
fight for thee. 

Be not hasty in thy tongue, and in thy deeds slack and 
remiss. 

Be not as a lion in thy house, nor frantic among thy 
servants. 



116 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Let not thy hand be stretched out to receive, and shut 
when thou shouldst repay. 



Set not thy heart upon thy goods ; and say not, I have 
enough for my life. 

Follow not thine own mind and thy strength, to walk 
in the ways of thy heart. 

And say not, Who shall control me for my works ? for 
the Lord will surely revenge thy pride. 

Say not, I have sinned, and what harm hath happened 
unto me? for the Lord is long-suffering, he will in no 
wise let thee go. 

Set not thy heart upon goods unjustly gotten : for they 
shall not profit thee in the day of calamity. 

Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every 
way : for so doth the sinner that hath a double tongue. 

Be steadfast in thine understanding ; and let thy word 
be the same. 

Be swift to hear ; and let thy lif e be sincere ; and with 
patience give answer. 

If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbour ; if 
not, lay thy hand upon thy mouth. 

Honour and shame is in talk : and the tongue of man 
is his fall. 

Be not called a whisperer, and lie not in wait with thy 
tongue ; for a foul shame is upon the thief, and an evil 
condemnation upon the double tongue. 

Be not ignorant of any thing in a great matter or a 
small. 

VI. 

Instead of a friend become not an enemy ; [for there- 
by] thou shalt inherit an ill name, shame, and reproach : 
even so shall a sinner that hath a double tongue. 






ECCLESIASTIC US 117 

Sweet language will multiply friends : and a fair-speak- 
ing tongue will increase kind greetings. 

Be in peace with many: nevertheless have but one 
counsellor of a thousand. 

If thou wouldst get a friend, prove him first, and be not 
hasty to credit him. 

For some man is a friend for his own occasion, and will 
not abide in the day of thy trouble. 

And there is a friend, who, being turned to enmity and 
strife, will discover thy reproach. 

Again, some friend is a companion at the table, and 
will not continue in the day of thine affliction. 

But in thy prosperity he will be as thyself, and will be 
bold over thy servants. 

If thou be brought low, he will be against thee, and will 
hide himself from thy face. 

Separate thyself from thine enemies, and take heed of 
thy friends. 

A faithful friend is a strong defence : and he that hath 
found such a one hath found a treasure. 

Nothing doth countervail a faithful friend, and his ex- 
cellency is invaluable. 

A f aitlif id friend is the medicine of life ; and they that 
fear the Lord shall find him. 

VII. 

Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul : 
for there is one which humbleth and exalteth. 

Devise not a lie against thy brother : neither do the like 
to thy friend. 

Use not to make any manner of lie : for the custom 
thereof is not good. 

Use not many words in a multitude of elders, and make 
not much babbling when thou prayest. 



118 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Hate not laborious work, neither husbandry, which the 
Most High hath ordained. 

Change not a friend for any good, by no means ; neither 
a faithful brother for the gold of Ophir. 

Forego not a wise and good woman : for her grace is 
above gold. 

Whereas thy servant worketh truly, entreat him not 
evil, nor the hireling that bestoweth himself wholly for 
thee. 

Let thy soul love a good servant, and defraud him not 
of liberty. 

Hast thou cattle ? have an eye to them : and if they be 
for thy profit, keep them with thee. 

Hast thou children ? instruct them, and bow down their 
neck from their youth. 

Hast thou a wife after thy mind ? forsake her not : but 
give not thyself over to a light woman. 

Honour thy father with thy whole heart, and forget not 
the sorrows of thy mother. 

And stretch thy hand unto the poor, that thy blessing 
may be perfected. 

Fail not to be with them that weep, and mourn with 
them that mourn. 

Be not slow to visit the sick : for that shall make thee 
to be beloved. 

Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end, 
and thou shalt never do amiss. 

VIII. 

Strive not with a mighty man, lest thou fall into his 
hands. 

Be not at variance with a rich man, lest he overweigh 
thee : for gold hath destroyed many, and perverted the 
hearts of kings. 



ECCLESIASTICUS 119 

Strive not with a man that is full of tongue, and heap 
not wood upon his fire. 

Jest not with a rude man, lest thine ancestors be dis- 
graced. 

Reproach not a man that turneth from sin, but remem- 
that we are aU worthy of punishment. 

Dishonour not a man in his old age : for even some of 
us wax old. 

Rejoice not over thy greatest enemy being dead, but re- 
member that we die all. 

Despise not the discourse of the wise, but acquaint thy- 
self with their proverbs. 

Be not surety above thy power : for if thou be surety, 
take care to pay it. 

Consult not with a fool, for he cannot keep counsel. 

Do no secret thing before a stranger ; for thou knowest 
not what he will bring forth. 

Open not thy heart to every man, lest he requite thee 
with a shrewd turn. 

IX. 

Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, and teach 
her not an evil lesson against thyself. 

Give not thy soul unto a woman to set her foot upon 
thy substance. 

Meet not with a harlot, lest thou fall into her snares. 

Forsake not an old friend ; for the new is not compar- 
able to him : a new friend is as new wine ; when it is old, 
thou shalt drink it with pleasure. 

Envy not the glory of a sinner : for thou knowest not 
what shall be his end. 

Delight not in the thing that the ungodly have pleasure 
in : but remember they shall not go unpunished unto their 
grave. 



120 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

XI. 

Blame not before thou hast examined the truth : un- 
derstand first, and then rebuke. 

Answer not before thou hast heard the cause : neither 
interrupt men in the midst of their talk. 

Strive not in a matter that concerneth thee not ; and 
sit not in judgment with sinners. 

XII. 

When thou wilt do good, know to whom thou doest it ; 
so shalt thou be thanked for thy benefits. 

Do good to the godly man, and thou shalt find a re- 
compense ; and if not from him, yet from the Most High. 

Give unto the good, and help not the sinner. 

A friend cannot be known in prosperity : and an enemy 
cannot be hid in adversity. 

In the prosperity of a man, enemies will be grieved ; but 
in his adversity, even a friend will depart. 

XIII. 

He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith ; and 
he that hath fellowship with a proud man shall be like 
unto him. 

The heart of a man changeth his countenance, whether 
it be for good or evil : and a merry heart maketh a cheer- 
ful countenance. 

XVIII. 

My son, blemish not thy good deeds, neither use un- 
comfortable words when thou givest any thing. 

Shall not the dew assuage the heat ? so is a word better 
than a gift. 

Lo, is not a word better than a gift ? but both are with 
a gracious man. 






ECCLESIASTICUS 121 

A fool will upbraid churlishly, and a gift of the envious 
consumeth the eyes. 

Learn before thou speak, and use physic or ever thou 
be sick. 

When thou hast enough, remember the time of hunger : 
and when thou art rich, think upon poverty and need. 

Go not after thy lusts, but refrain thyself from thine 
appetites. 

If thou givest thy soul the desires that please her, she 
will make thee a laughing-stock to thine enemies that 
malign thee. 

Take not pleasure in much good cheer, neither be tied 
to the expense thereof. 

Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, 
when thou hast nothing in thy purse : for thou shalt lie in 
wait for thine own life, and be talked on. 

XIX. 

A labouring man that is given to drunkenness shall not 
be rich : and he that contemneth small things shall fall by 
little and little. 

Wine and women will make men of understanding to 
fall away: and he that cleaveth to harlots will become 
impudent. 

He that can rule his tongue shall live without strife ; 
and he that hateth babbling shall have less evil. 

Rehearse not unto another that which is told unto thee, 
and thou shalt fare never the worse. 

Whether it be to a friend or foe, talk not of other 
men's lives; and if thou canst without offence, reveal 
them not. 

If thou hast heard a word, let it die with thee ; and be 
bold, it will not burst thee. 

A fool travaileth with a word, as a woman in labour of 
a child. 



122 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

As an arrow that sticketh in a man's thigh, so is a word 
within a fool's belly. 

Admonish a friend, it may be he hath not done it : and 
if he have done it, that he do it no more. 

Admonish thy friend, it may be he hath not said it : 
and if he have, that he speak it not again. 

Admonish a friend : for many times it is a slander, and 
believe not every tale. 

XX. 

A wise man will hold his tongue, till he see opportunity : 
but a babbler and a fool will regard no time. 

To slip upon a pavement is better than to slip with the 
tongue : so the fall of the wicked shall come speedily. 

A wise sentence shall be rejected when it cometh out 
of a fool's mouth ; for he will not speak it in due season. 

A thief is better than a man that is accustomed to lie : 
but they both shall have destruction to heritage. 

XXVIII. 

Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto 
thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou pray est. 

One man beareth hatred against another, and doth he 
seek pardon from the Lord ? 

He sheweth no mercy to a man, which is like himself : 
and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins? 

Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins : 
for a furious man will kindle strife. 

Many have fallen by the edge of the sword : but not so 
many as have fallen by the tongue. 

Look that thou hedge thy possession about with thorns, 
and bind up thy silver and gold. 

And weigh thy words in a balance, and make a door 
and bar for thy mouth. 



ECCLESIASTICUS 123 

Help the poor for the commandment's sake, and turn 
him not away because of his poverty. 

Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend, and let 
it not rust under a stone to be lost. 

Lay up thy treasure according to the commandments 
of the Most High, and it shall bring thee more profit 
than gold. 

Shut up alms in thy storehouses ; and it shall deliver 
thee from all affliction. 

It shall fight for thee against thine enemies better than 
a mighty shield and strong spear. 

An honest man is surety for his neighbour : but he that 
is impudent will forsake him. 

Forget not the friendship of thy surety, for he hath 
given his life for thee. 

XXX. 

He that loveth his son causeth him oft to feel the rod, 
that he may have joy of him in the end. 

He that chastiseth his son shall have joy of him, and 
shall rejoice in him among his acquaintance. 

Cocker thy child, and he shall make thee afraid : play 
with him, and he will bring thee to heaviness. 

Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow with him, 
and lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end. 

Give him no liberty in his youth, and wink not at his 
follies. 

Bow down his neck while he is young, and beat him on 
the sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn, and 
be disobedient unto thee, and so bring sorrow to thy 
heart. 

Health and good estate of body are above all gold, and 
a strong body above infinite wealth. 

Give not over thy mind to heaviness, and afflict not 
thyself in thine own counsel. 



124 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

The gladness of the heart is the life of man, and the 
joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days. 

Envy and wrath shorten the life, and carefulness bring- 
eth age before the time. 

XXXII. 

Do nothing without advice ; and when thou hast once 
done, repent not. 

Go not in a way wherein thou mayest fall, and stumble 
not among the stones. 

Be not confident in a plain way. 

And beware of thy own children. 

In every good work trust thy own soul ; for this is the 
keeping of the commandment. 

XXXIII. 

Give not thy son and wife, thy brother and friend, 
power over thee while thou livest, and give not thy goods 
to another : lest it repent thee, and thou entreat for the 
same again. 

As long as thou livest and hast breath in thee, give not 
thyself over to any. 

For better it is that thy children should seek to thee, 
than that thou shouldest stand to their courtesy. 

XXXVII. 

My son, prove thy soul in thy life, and see what is evil 
for it, and give not that unto it. 

For all things are not profitable for all men, neither 
hath every soul pleasure in every thing. 

Be not unsatiable in any dainty thing, nor too greedy 
upon meats. 






' ECCLESIASTICUS 125 

XLII. 

Of these things be not thou ashamed, and accept no 
person to sin thereby : 

Of the law of the Most High, and his covenant ; and 
of judgment to justify the ungodly ; 

Of reckoning with thy partners and travellers ; or of 
the gift of the heritage of friends ; 

Of exactness of balance and weights ; or of getting 
much or little ; 

And of merchants' indifferent selling ; of much correc- 
tion of children ; and to make the side of an evil servant 
to bleed. 

Sure keeping is good, where an evil wife is ; and shut 
up, where many hands are. 

Deliver all things in number and weight ; and put all 
in writing that thou givest out, or receivest in. 



CICERO 

(B. C. 106-43.) 

Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great Roman orator, states- 
man, and philosopher, was born at Arpinum, a town of Latium, 
about seventy miles from Rome, on the 3d of January, b. c. 
106. His father, of the same name, was a man of wealth, 
and Cicero received the best education that could be given 
him, applying special study to law. He acquired early dis- 
tinction as an orator, and was little past thirty years of age 
when he began to be called to high offices in the state. In 
the year 63 b. c. he became consul, and performed his great- 
est service to the Roman Republic in defeating the conspiracy 
of Catiline. To accomplish this he was obliged to overstep 
the bounds of law, which gave his enemies an opportunity 
to assail him with prosecutions when his term of office had 
expired. He withdrew from Rome in consequence, and re- 
sided for a time in Greece, but was triumphantly recalled in 
September, 57 B. c. On the outbreak of the civil war be- 
tween Csesar and Pompey, Cicero, after long hesitation, took 
sides with the Pompeians. The victorious Caesar treated him 
with magnanimity, and he lived in undisturbed privacy until 
Caesar's death, devoting himself to the composition of philo- 
sophical and rhetorical works, many of which have survived 
to claim the undying admiration of the world. After 
Caesar's assassination, Cicero made common cause with the 
assassins, and ruined himself by vehement orations against 
Marc Antony. He was doomed by the defeat of the republi- 
cans. His name was put into the list of the proscribed, 
when Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus agreed on the destruc- 
tion of their enemies, and he was slain by a party of their 
soldiers on the 7th of December, b. c. 43. 

Among the more philosophical works of Cicero "The Tus- 
culan Disputations " hold a high place. They are discussions 



CICERO 127 

supposed to have taken place in Cicero's villa at Tusculum, 
in the mountains near Rome. 



THE GOOD THAT MAKES LIFE HAPPY. 

(From " The Tusculan Disputations " of Cicero ; literally translated 
by C. D. Yonge.) 

As the perturbations of the mind make life miserable, 
and tranquillity renders it happy ; and as these perturba- 
tions are of two sorts, grief and fear, proceeding from 
imagined evils, and as immoderate joy and lust arise from 
a mistake about what is good, and as all these feelings 
are in opposition to reason and counsel ; when you see a 
man at ease, quite free and disengaged from such trouble- 
some commotions, which are so much at variance with one 
another, can you hesitate to pronounce such an one a 
happy man ? Now the wise man is always in such a dis- 
position, therefore the wise man is always happy. Besides, 
every good is pleasant ; whatever is pleasant may be 
boasted and talked of; whatever may be boasted of is 
glorious, but whatever is glorious is certainly laudable, 
and whatever is laudable doubtless, also, honourable; 
whatever, then, is good is honourable ; (but the things 
which they reckon as goods, they themselves do not call 
honourable ;) therefore what is honourable alone is good. 
Hence it follows that a nappy life is comprised in honesty 
alone. Such things, then, are not to be called or con- 
sidered goods, when a man may enjoy an abundance of 
them, and yet be most miserable. Is there any doubt but 
that a man who enjoys the best health, and who has 
strength and beauty, and his senses flourishing in their 
utmost quickness and perfection ; suppose him likewise, if 
you please, nimble and active, nay, give him riches, hon- 
ours, authority, power, glory; now, I say, should this 



128 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

person, who is in possession of all these, be unjust, intem- 
perate, timid, stupid, or an idiot, could you hesitate to 
call such an one miserable ? What, then, are those goods 
in the possession of which you may be very miserable ? 
Let us see if a happy life is not made up of parts of the 
same nature, as a heap implies a quantity of grain of the 
same kind. And if this be once admitted, happiness 
must be compounded of different good things which alone 
are honourable ; if there is any mixture of things of an- 
other sort with these, nothing honourable can proceed 
from such a composition ; now, take away honesty, and 
how can you imagine anything happy? For whatever is 
good is desirable on that account ; whatever is desirable 
must certainly be approved of ; whatever you approve of 
must be looked on as acceptable and welcome. You must 
consequently impute dignity to this ; and if so, it must 
necessarily be laudable ; therefore, everything that is 
laudable is good. Hence it follows that what is honour- 
able is the only good. And should we not look upon it 
in this light, there will be a great many things which we 
must call good. 

I forbear to mention riches, which, as any one, let him 
be ever so unworthy, may have them, I do not reckon 
amongst goods ; for what is good is not attainable by all. 
I pass over notoriety and popular fame, raised by the 
united voice of knaves and fools. Even things which are 
absolute nothings may be called goods ; such as white 
teeth, handsome eyes, a good complexion, and what was 
commended by Euryclea, when she was washing Ulysses's 
feet, the softness of his skin and the mildness of his dis- 
course. If you look on these as goods, what greater 
encomiums can the gravity of a philosopher be entitled to 
than the wild opinion of the vulgar and the thoughtless 
crowd ? The Stoics give the name of excellent and choice 



CICERO 129 

to what the others call good : they call them so indeed, 
but they do not allow them to complete a happy life. 
But these others think that there is no life happy without 
them ; or, admitting it to be happy, they deny it to be 
the most happy. But our opinion is that it is the most 
happy, and we prove it from that conclusion of Socrates. 
For thus that author of philosophy argued : that as the 
disposition of a man's mind is, so is the man : such as the 
man is, such will be his discourse : his actions will corre- 
spond with his discourse, and his life with his actions. 
But the disposition of a good man's mind is laudable : the 
life, therefore, of a good man is laudable : it is honour- 
able, therefore, because laudable : the unavoidable conclu- 
sion from which is that the life of good men is happy. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 

"What is the Sermon on the Mount? It is the moral 
law of the kingdom of Christ, or in other words it occupies 
in the New Testament the place which in the Old Testament 
is occupied by the Ten Commandments. It is thus an excel- 
lent example of the relation of the two divine ' testaments, ' 
or rather covenants, to one another. . . . We may say with 
truth that the Sermon on the Mount supersedes the Ten 
Commandments; but it supersedes them by including them 
in a greater, deeper, and more positive whole." — Charles 
Gore, "The Sermon on the Mount," ch. i. 

(Matthew v., Revised Version.) 

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the moun- 
tain : and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto 
him : and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 

Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be com- 
forted. 

Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness : for they shall be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called 
sons of God. 

Blessed are they that have been persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 131 

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, 
Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in 
danger of the judgement : but I say unto you, that every 
one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of 
the judgement ; and whosoever shall say to his brother, 
Raca, shall be in danger of the council ; and whosoever 
shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. 
If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and 
there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against 
thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, 
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer 
thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles 
thou art with him in the way ; lest haply the adversary 
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to 
the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say 
unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till 
thou have paid the last farthing. 

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit 
adultery ; but I say unto you, that every one that looketh 
on a woma^n to lust after her hath committed adultery with 
her already in his heart. And if thy right eye causeth 
thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ; for 
it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should 
perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if 
thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast 
it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of thy 
members should perish, and not thy whole body go into 
hell. It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his 
wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement : but I say 
unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving 
for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adidteress : and 
whosoever shall marry her when she is put away commit- 
teth adultery. 

Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old 



132 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform 
unto the Lord thine oaths : but I say unto you, Swear 
not at all ; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of 
God ; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet ; 
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not 
make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, 
Yea, yea ; Nay, nay ; and whatsoever is more than these 
is of the evil one. 

Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and 
a tooth for a tooth : but I say unto you, Resist not him 
that is evil : but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right 
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would 
go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have 
thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go 
one mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh 
thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not 
thou away. 

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour, and hate thine enemy : but I say unto you, 
Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you ; 
that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven : 
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, 
and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye 
love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not 
even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your 
brethren only, what do ye more than others ? do not even 
the Gentiles the same ? Ye therefore shall be perfect, as 
your heavenly Father is perfect. 

VI. 

Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before 
men, to be seen of them : else ye have no reward with 
your Father which is in heaven. 






THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 133 

When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet 
before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in 
the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I 
say unto you, They have received their reward. But when 
thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy 
right hand doeth : that thine alms may be in secret : and 
thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. 

And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites : 
for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in 
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. 
Verily, I say unto you, They have received their reward. 
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner cham- 
ber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which 
is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall 
recompense thee. And in praying use not vain repeti- 
tions, as the Gentiles do : for they think that they shall 
be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like 
unto them : for your Father knoweth what things ye have 
need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore 
pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be 
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in 
heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our 
debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver 
us from the evil one. For if ye forgive men their tres- 
passes, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But 
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your 
Father forgive your trespasses. 

Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a 
sad countenance : for they disfigure their faces, that they 
may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They 
have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, 
anoint thy head, and wash thy face ; that thou be not 
seen of men to fast, but of thy Father which is in secret : 



134 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall recompense 
thee. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, 
where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves 
break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves trea- 
sures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth con- 
sume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal : 
for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. 
The lamp of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye 
be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if 
thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. 
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how 
great is the darkness ! No man can serve two masters : 
for either he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else 
he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot 
serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be 
not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye 
shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. 
Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the 
raiment ? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow 
not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and 
your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much 
more value than they ? And which of you by being anx- 
ious can add one cubit unto his stature ? And why are 
ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of 
the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they 
spin ; yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth 
so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to- 
morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more 
clothe you, O ye of little faith ? Be not therefore anx- 
ious, saying, What shall we eat ? or, What shall we 
drink ? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? For after 
all these things do the Gentiles seek ; for your heavenly 






THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 135 

Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 
But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness ; and 
all these things shall be added unto you. Be not there- 
fore anxious for the morrow : for the morrow will be anx- 
ious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

VII. 

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what 
judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged : and with what 
measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And 
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, 
but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the 
mote out of thine eye ; and lo, the beam is in thine own 
eye ? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine 
own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the 
mote out of thy brother's eye. 

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast 
your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them 
under their feet, and turn and rend you. 

Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; 
knock, and it shall be opened unto you : for every one 
that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and 
to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man 
is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, 
will give him a stone ; or if he shall ask for a fish, will 
give him a serpent ? If ye then, being evil, know how to 
give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
your Father which is in heaven give good things to them 
that ask him ? All things therefore whatsoever ye would 
that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto 
them, for this is the law and the prophets. 

Enter ye in by the narrow gate : for wide is the gate, 
and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and 



136 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the 
gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and 
few be they that find it. 

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 
clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their 
fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of 
thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bring- 
eth forth good fruit ; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth 
evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, 
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every 
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and 
cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know 
them. 



SENECA 

(First century of the Christian era.) 

Lucius Annjeus Seneca was a moralist, or a moralizing 
philosopher, whose precepts were not happily illustrated in 
his life, and in whose character there is not much to admire. 
He was born in Spain, about 4 b. c, but brought to Rome 
in childhood by his father, a man of wealth, belonging to 
the equestrian class. Rising to eminence as a pleader he 
incurred, after some years, the hostility of Messalina, the 
wife of the emperor Claudius, and was banished to Corsica 
for eight years. The second wife of Claudius, Agrippina, 
procured his recall, and made him the teacher of Domitius, 
her son by a former husband, who subsequently received the 
name of Nero and became the worst of emperors. For some 
time after Nero's accession to the throne, Seneca's influence 
over the young emperor was great, and was used generally 
for good, though not unselfishly; for the teacher and adviser 
improved his opportunities to acquire vast wealth. As the 
foul and fiendish propensities of Nero came more and more 
to light, Seneca yielded to them, and became, in a measure, 
accessory to some of the worst of his early crimes, especially 
the murder of his mother, Agrippina. But wickeder men 
than Seneca could possibly be were needed soon to satisfy 
Nero's demands for counsel and aid, and the philosopher was 
easily supplanted in imperial favor. The wealth he had 
accumulated then excited the greed of the vile harpies of the 
court, and his destruction was decreed. A conspiracy against 
the emperor was opportunely discovered ; Seneca was accused 
of participation in it ; he was ordered to die, and obeyed the 
order by opening his veins and bleeding to death — A. D. 65. 

Theoretically, Seneca was a Stoic ; practically he may be 
said to have exemplified Stoicism in nothing but the calmness 
and dignity of his death. But his moral writings are elo- 
quent, forcible, and true, and they have conveyed profitable 
teaching to all the generations since his time. 



138 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

SENECA'S RULES FOR A HAPPY LIFE. 

(From " Minor Dialogues; " translated by Aubrey Stewart.) 

It will come to the same thing, if I say, " The highest 
good is a mind which despises the accidents of fortune, 
and takes pleasure in virtue ; " or, " It is an unconquer- 
able strength of mind, knowing the world well, gentle in 
its dealings, showing great courtesy and consideration for 
those with whom it is brought into contact." Or we may 
choose to define it by calling that man happy who knows 
good and bad only in the form of good or bad minds : who 
worships honour and is satisfied with his own virtue, who 
is neither puffed up by good fortune nor cast down by 
evil fortune, who knows no other good than that which he 
is able to bestow upon himself, whose real pleasure lies in 
despising pleasures. If you choose to pursue this digres- 
sion further, you can put this same idea into many other 
forms, without impairing or weakening its meaning : for 
what prevents our saying that a happy life consists in a 
mind which is free, upright, undaunted, and steadfast, 
beyond the influence of fear or desire, which thinks no- 
thing good except honour, and nothing bad except shame, 
and regards everything else as a mass of mean details 
which can neither add anything to nor take anything away 
from the happiness of life, but which come and go with- 
out either increasing or diminishing the highest good ? 
A man of these principles, whether he will or no, must be 
accompanied by continual cheerfulness, a high happiness, 
which come, indeed, from on high, because he delights in 
what he has, and desires no greater pleasures than those 
which his home affords. Is he not right in allowing these 
to turn the scale against petty, ridiculous, and shortlived 
movements of his wretched body ? On the day on which 



SENECA 139 

he becomes proof against pleasure he also becomes 
proof against pain. See, on the other hand, how evil and 
guilty a slavery the man is forced to serve who is 
dominated in turn by pleasures and pains, those most un- 
trustworthy and passionate of masters. We must, there- 
fore, escape from them into freedom. This nothing will 
bestow upon us save contempt of Fortune : but if we 
attain to this, then there will dawn upon us those invalu- 
able blessings, the repose of a mind that is at rest in a 
safe haven, its lofty imaginings, its great and steady de- 
light at casting out errors and learning to know the truth, 
its courtesy, and its cheerfulness, in all of which we shall 
take delight, not regarding them as good things, but as 
proceeding from the proper good of man. . . . What 
answer are we to make to the reflection that pleasure be- 
longs to good and bad men alike, and that bad men take 
as much delight in their shame as good men in noble 
things? This was why the ancients bade us lead the 
highest, not the most pleasant life, in order that pleasure 
might not be the guide but the companion of a right- 
thinking and honourable mind ; for it is Nature whom 
we ought to make our guide : let our reason watch her, 
and be advised by her. To live happily, then, is the 
same thing as to live according to Nature : what this may 
be, I will explain. If we guard the endowments of the 
body and the advantages of nature with care and fearless- 
ness, as things soon to depart and given to us only for a 
day ; if we do not fall under their dominion, nor allow 
ourselves to become the slaves of what is no part of our 
own being ; if we assign to all bodily pleasures and exter- 
nal delights the same position which is held by auxiliaries 
and light-armed troops in a camp ; if we make them our 
servants, not our masters, then and then only are they of 
value to our minds. A man should be unbiassed and not 



140 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

to be conquered by external things : he ought to admire 
himself alone, to feel confidence in his own spirit, and so 
to order his life as to be ready alike for good or for bad 
fortune. Let not his confidence be without knowledge, 
nor his knowledge without steadfastness : let him always 
abide by what he has once determined, and let there be 
no erasure in his doctrines. It will be understood, even 
though I append it not, that such a man will be tranquil 
and composed in his demeanour, high-minded and cour- 
teous in his actions. Let reason be encouraged by the 
senses to seek for the truth, and draw its first principles 
from thence : indeed it has no other base of operations or 
place from which to start in pursuit of truth : it must fall 
back upon itself. Even the all-embracing universe and 
God who is its guide extends himself forth into outward 
things, and yet altogether returns from all sides back to 
himself. Let our mind do the same thing : when, fol- 
lowing its bodily senses, it has by means of them sent 
itself forth into the things of the outward world, let it 
remain still their master and its own. By this means we 
shall obtain a strength and an ability which are united 
and allied together, and shall derive from it that reason 
which never halts between two opinions, nor is dull in 
forming its perceptions, beliefs, or convictions. Such a 
mind, when it has ranged itself in order, made its various 
parts agree together, and, if I may so express myself, har- 
monized them, has attained to the highest good : for it 
has nothing evil or hazardous remaining, nothing to shake 
it or make it stumble : it will do everything under the 
guidance of its own will, and nothing unexpected will be- 
fall it, but whatever may be done by it will turn out well, 
and that, too, readily and easily, without the doer having 
recourse to any underhand devices : for slow and hesitat- 
ing actions are the signs of discord and want of settled 






SENECA 141 

purpose. You may, then, boldly declare that the highest 
good is singleness of mind : for where agreement and 
unity are, there must the virtues be : it is the vices that 
are at war one with another. ... It is the act of a gener- 
ous spirit to proportion its efforts not to its own strength 
but to that of human nature, to entertain lofty aims, and 
to conceive plans which are too vast to be carried into 
execution even by those who are endowed with gigantic 
intellects, who appoint for themselves the following 
rules : "I will look upon death or upon a comedy with 
the same expression of countenance : I will submit to 
labours, however great they may be, supporting the 
strength of my body by that of my mind : I will despise 
riches when I have them as much as when I have them 
not ; if they be elsewhere I will not be more gloomy, 
if they sparkle around me I will not be more lively 
than I should otherwise be : whether Fortune comes or 
goes I will take no notice of her ; I will view all lands as 
though they belong to me, and my own as though they 
belonged to all mankind : I will so live as to remember 
that I was born for others, and will thank Nature on this 
account : for in what fashion could she have done better 
for me ? she has given me alone to all, and all to me 
alone. Whatever I may possess, I will neither hoard it 
greedily nor squander it recklessly. I will think that I 
have no possessions so real as those which I have given 
away to deserving people : I will not reckon benefits by 
their magnitude or number, or by anything except the 
value set upon them by the receiver : I never will con- 
sider a gift to be a large one if it be bestowed upon a 
worthy object. I will do nothing because of public opin- 
ion, but everything because of conscience : whenever I do 
anything alone by myself I will believe that the eyes of 
the Roman people are upon me while I do it. In eating 



142 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

and drinking my object shall be to quench the desires of 
Nature, not to fill and empty my belly. I will be agree- 
able with my friends, gentle and mild to my foes : I will 
grant pardon before I am asked for it, and will meet the 
wishes of honourable men half way : I will bear in mind 
that the world is my native city, that its governors are 
the gods, and that they stand above and around me, criti- 
cising whatever I do or say. Whenever either Nature 
demands my breath again, or reason bids me dismiss it, 
I will quit this life, calling all to witness that I have loved 
a good conscience, and good pursuits : that no one's free- 
dom, my own least of all, has been impaired through me." 
He who sets up these as the rules of his life will soar 
aloft and strive to make his way to the gods. 






MAETIAL 

(First century.) 

Little is known concerning Martial, the Latin poet, whose 
epigrammatic summary of the essentials of happiness in life 
has been translated and imitated by many modern poets. He 
was born in Spain, in the year 43 A. d., and he died in 104. 

THE HAPPY LIFE. 

(From Martial's "Epigrams," lib. x., ep. xlv.) 

Vitarn quae faciunt beatiorem, 
Jucundissime Martialis, hasc sunt : 
Res non parta, labore, sed relicta ; 
Non ingratus ager, focus perennis, 
Lis nunquam ; toga rara ; mens quieta ; 
Vires ingenuse ; salubre corpus ; 
Prudens simplicitas ; pares amici ; 
Convictis f acilis ; sine arte mensa ; 
Nox non ebria, sed soluta curis ; 
Non tristis torus, et tamen pudicus ; 
Soninus, qui faciat breves tenebras ; 
Quod sis, esse velis, nihilque malis : 
Sunimum nee metuas diem, nee optes. 

(Translation by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.) 

Martial, the things that do attain 
The happy life be these, I find — 

The riches left, not got with pain ; 
The fruitful ground, the quiet mind, 



144 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

The equal friend ; no grudge, no strife ; 

No charge of rule, nor governance ; 
Without disease, the healthful life ; 

The household of continuance ; 

The mean diet, no delicate fare ; 

True wisdom joined with simpleness ; 
The night discharged of all care, 

Where wine the wit may not oppress ; 

The faithful wife, without debate ; 

Such sleeps as may beguile the night ; 
Contented with thine own estate, 

Ne wish for Death, ne fear his might. 

(Translation by Sir Richard Fanshawe.) 

The things that make a life to please 

(Sweetest Martial), they are these : 

Estate inherited, not got : 

A thankful field, hearth always hot : 

City seldom, law-suits never : 

Equal friends agreeing ever : 

Health of body, peace of mind : 

Sleeps that till the morning bind : 

Wise simplicity, plain fare : 

Not drunken nights, yet loos'd from care : 

A sober, not a sullen spouse : 

Clean strength, not such as his that plows ; 

Wish only what thou art, to be ; 

Death neither wish, nor fear to see. 

(Translation by Abraham Cowley.) 

Since, dearest friend, 't is your desire to see 
A true receipt of happiness from me ; 



MARTIAL 145 

These are the chief ingredients, if not all : 

Take an estate neither too great nor small, 

Which quantum sufficit the doctors call. 

Let this estate from parents' care descend ; 

The getting it too much of life does spend. 

Take such a ground, whose gratitude may be 

A fair encouragement for industry. 

Let constant fires the winter's fury tame ; 

And let thy kitchen's be a vestal flame. 

Thee to the town let never suit at law, 

And rarely, very rarely, business draw. 

Thy active mind in equal temper keep, 

In undisturbed peace, yet not in sleep. 

Let exercise a vigorous health maintain, 

Without which all the composition 's vain. 

In the same weight prudence and innocence take, 

And of each does the just mixture make. 

But a few friendships wear, and let them be 

By nature and by fortune fit for thee. 

Instead of art and luxury in food, 

Let mirth and freedom make thy table good. 

If any cares into thy day-time creep, 

At night, without wine's opium, let them sleep. 

Let rest, which nature does to darkness wed, 

And not lust, recommend to thee thy bed. 

Be satisfied, and pleas'd with what thou art, 

Act cheerfully and well th' allotted part ; 

Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past, 

And neither fear, nor wish, th' approaches of the last. 

(Free translation or imitation by Alexander Pope.) 
Happy the man whose wish and care 

A few paternal acres bound, 
Content to breath his native air, 
In his own around. 



146 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, 

Whose flocks supply him with attire, 
Whose trees in summer yield him shade, 
In winter fire. 

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find 

Hours, days, and years slide soft away, 
In health of body, peace of mind, 
Quiet by day. 

Sound sleep by night ; study and ease, 

Together mixt ; sweet recreation ; 
And Innocence, which most does please 
With meditation. 

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown, 

Thus unlamented let me die, 
Steal from the world, and not a stone 
Tell where I lie. 

(Translation by C. Merivale.) 
What makes the happiest life below, 
A few plain rules, my friend, will show. 
A good estate, not earn'd with toil, 

But left by will, or giv'n by fate ; 
A land of no ungrateful soil, 

A constant fire within your grate : 

No laws ; few cares ; a quiet mind ; 

Strength ummpair'd, a healthful frame; 
Wisdom with innocence combin'd ; 

Friends equal both in years and fame ; 

Your living easy, and your board 
With food, but not with luxury stored ; 



MARTIAL 147 

A bed, though chaste, not solitary ; 

Sound sleep, to shorten night's dull reign ; 
Wish nothing that is yours to vary ; 

Think all enjoyments that remain ; 
And for the inevitable hour, 
Nor hope it nigh, nor dread its power. 



EPICTETUS 

(First century of the Christian era.) 

During some considerable part of his life, Epictetus, the 
Stoic philosopher, was a slave. His master, Epaphroditus, 
had been himself a slave, had become a freedman, had risen 
to favor in the court of the emperor Nero, whom he served 
as librarian or secretary. "Epictetus was probably born in 
about the fiftieth year of the Christian era; but we do not 
know the exact date of his birth, nor do we even know his 
real name. 'Epictetus ' means ' bought ' or ' acquired,' and 
is simply a servile designation. He was born at Hierapolis, 
in Phrygia. . . . What were the accidents — or rather, 
what was ' the unseen Providence, by man nicknamed 
chance ' — which assigned Epictetus to the house of Epaphro- 
ditus, we do not know. To a heart refined and noble there 
could hardly have been a more- trying position. . . . The 
slaves of a Roman familia were crowded together in immense 
gangs; they were liable to the most violent and capricious 
punishments ; they might be subjected to the most degraded 
and brutalizing influences. . . . An anecdote has .been 
handed down to us by several writers which would show that 
Epictetus was treated with atrocious cruelty. Epaphroditus, 
it is said, once gratified his' cruelty by twisting his slave's 
leg in some instrument of torture. ' If you go on you will 
break it, ' said Epictetus. The wretch did go on, and did 
break it. 'I told you that you would break it, ' said Epic- 
tetus quietly, not giving vent to his anguish by a single word 
or a single groan. . . . Another authority tells us that 
Epictetus became lame in consequence of a natural disease. 
. . . At some period of his life, but how or when we do 
not know, Epictetus was manumitted by his master, and was 
henceforward regarded by the world as free. . . . We are 
told that he lived in a cottage of the simplest and even 
meanest description : it neither needed nor possessed a fasten- 



EPICTETUS 149 

ing of any kind, for within it there was no furniture except 
a lamp and the poor straw pallet on which he slept. . . . 
But, in spite of his deep poverty, it must not he Supposed 
that there was anything eccentric or ostentatious in the life 
of Epictetus." Banished, with other philosophers, from 
Rome, by the emperor Domitian, he went to Nicopolis, in 
Epirus. "Whether he ever revisited Rome is uncertain, but 
it is probable that he did so, for we know that he enjoyed 
the friendship of several eminent philosophers and statesmen, 
and was esteemed and honored by the emperor Hadrian him- 
self. He is said to have lived to a good old age, surrounded 
by affectionate and eager disciples, and to have died with the 
same noble simplicity which had marked his life. The date 
of his death is as little known as that of his birth. ... It 
is nearly certain that Epictetus never committed any of his 
doctrines to writing. Like his great exemplar, Socrates, he 
contented himself with oral instruction, and the bulk of what 
has come down to us in his name consists in the ' Discourses ' 
reproduced for us by his pupil Arrian. It was the ambition 
of Arrian ' to be to Epictetus what Xenophon had been to 
Socrates. ' . . . With this view he wrote four books on 
Epictetus : a life, which is now unhappily lost ; a book of 
conversations or ' table talk, ' which is also lost ; and two 
books which have come down to us, viz., the ' Discourses ' 
and the 'Manual.' . . . The 'Manual' is a kind of ab- 
stract of Epictetus' s ethical principles." — F. W. Farrar, 
"Seekers after God." 

It is from the "Manual" or "Enchiridion" of Epictetus 
that the subjoined precepts are selected. 



SELECTIONS FROM THE PRECEPTS OF EPICTETUS. 
(From the " Works of Epictetus," translated by Elizabeth Carter.) 

Of Things, some are in our Power, and others not. In 
our Power are Opinion, Pursuit, Desire, Aversion, and, in 
one Word, whatever are our own Actions. Not in our 
Power, are Body, Property, Reputation, Command, and, 
in one Word, whatever are not our own Actions. 



150 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Now, the Things in our Power are, by Nature, free, un- 
restrained, unhindered ; but those not in our Power, weak, 
slavish, restrained, belonging to others. Remember, then, 
that, if you suppose Things by Nature slavish, to be free ; 
and what belongs to others, your own ; you will be hin- 
dered ; you will lament ; you will be disturbed ; you will 
find fault both with Gods and Men. But if you sup- 
pose that only to be your own which is your own ; and 
what belongs to others, such as it really is ; no one will 
ever compel you ; no one will restrain you : you will find 
fault with no one ; you will accuse no one ; you will do 
no one Thing against your Will : no one will hurt you : 
you will not have an Enemy : for you will suffer no 
Harm. . . . 

Remember that Desire promises the Attainment of that 
of which you are desirous ; and Aversion promises the 
Avoiding of that to which you are averse : that he who 
fails of the Object of his Desire, is disappointed : and he 
who incurs the Object of his Aversion, wretched. If then, 
you confine your Aversion to those Objects only which are 
contrary to that natural Use of your Faculties which you 
have in your own Power, you will never incur any thing 
to which you are averse. But if you are averse to Sick- 
ness, or Death, or Poverty, you will be wretched. Re- 
move Aversion, then, from all Things that are not in our 
Power, and transfer it to Things contrary to the Nature 
of what is in our Power. But, for the present, totally 
suppress Desire ; for if you desire any of the Things not 
in our own Power, you must necessarily be disappointed ; 
and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to 
desire, nothing is yet in your Possession. . . . 

Men are disturbed, not by Things, but by the Princi- 
ples and Notions which they form concerning Things. 
Death, for Instance, is not terrible, else it would have 



EPICTETUS 151 

appeared so to Socrates. But the Terror consists in our 
Notion of Death, that it is terrible. When therefore we 
are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never impute 
it to others, but to ourselves ; that is, to our own Prin- 
ciples. 

Eequire not Things to happen as you wish ; but wish 
them to happen as they do happen ; and you will go on 
well. . . . 

Never say of any tiling, " I have lost it," but, " I have 
restored it." Is your child dead ? It is restored. Is 
your wife dead? She is restored. Is your Estate taken 
away ? Well : and is not that likewise restored ? " But 
he who took it away is a bad Man." What is that to you, 
by whose Hands He, who gave it, hath demanded it back 
again ? While He gives you to possess it, take care of it ; 
but as of something not your own, as Passengers do of an 
Inn. . . . 

Remember that you must behave [in Life] as at an 
Entertainment. Is any thing brought round to you ? Put 
out your Hand, and take your Share, with Moderation. 
Doth it pass by you ? Do not stop it. Is it not yet come ? 
Do not stretch forth your Desire towards it, but wait till 
it reaches you. Thus [do] with regard to Children, to a 
Wife, to public Posts, to Riches : and you will be some 
time or other a worthy Partner of the Feasts of the Gods. 
And if you do not so much as take the Things which are 
set before you, but are able even to despise them, then 
you will not only be a Partner of the Feasts of the Gods, 
but of their Empire also. . . . 

Remember that you are an Actor in a Drama, of such 
a Kind as the Author pleases to make it. If short, of a 
short one ; if long, of a long one. If it be his Pleasure 
you should act a poor man, a Cripple, a Governor, or a 
private Person, see that you act it naturally. For this is 



152 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

your Business, to act well the Character assigned you : to 
chuse it, is another's. . . . 

Remember, that not he who gives Ill-Language, or a 
Blow, affronts ; but the Principle, which represents these 
Things as affronting. When, therefore, any one provokes 
you, be assured, that it is your own Opinion which pro- 
vokes you. . . . 

If you ever happen to turn your Attention to Externals, 
so as to wish to please any one, be assured, that you have 
ruined your Scheme of Life. . . . 

Be for the most part silent : or speak merely what is 
necessary, and in few Words. We may however enter, 
though sparingly, into Discourse sometimes, when Occa- 
sion calls for it ; but not on any of the common Subjects, 
of Gladiators, or Horse Races, or athletic Champions, or 
Feasts ; the vulgar Topics of Conversation : but princi- 
pally not of Men, so as either to blame, or praise, or make 
Comparisons. . . . 

Let not your Laughter be much, nor on many Occa- 
sions, nor profuse. 

Avoid Swearing, if possible, altogether ; if not, as far 
as you are able. 

Avoid public and vulgar Entertainments : but, if ever 
an Occasion calls you to them, keep your Attention upon 
the Stretch, that you may not imperceptibly slide into 
vulgar Manners. . . . 

Provide Things relating to the Body no farther than 
mere Use; as Meat, Drink, Clothing, House, Family. 
But strike off, and reject, everything relating to Show and 
Delicacy. . . . 

If any one tells you, that such a Person speaks ill of 
you, do not make Excuses about what is said of you, but 
answer : " He doth not know my other Faults, else he 
would not have mentioned only these." . . . 



EPICTETUS 153 

In Parties of Conversation, avoid a frequent and exces- 
sive mention of your own Actions, and Dangers. For, 
however agreeable it may be to yourself to mention the 
Risques you have run, it is not equally agreeable to others 
to hear your Adventures. Avoid, likewise, an Endea- 
vour to excite Laughter. For this is a slippery Point, 
which may throw you into vulgar Manners ; and, besides, 
may be apt to lessen you in the esteem of your Acquaint- 
ance. Approaches to indecent Discourse are likewise dan- 
gerous. . . . 

When you do any thing, from a clear Judgment that 
it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, 
even though the World should make a wrong Supposition 
about it : for, if you do not act right, shun the Action 
itself ; but, if you do, why are you afraid of those who 
censure you wrongly ? . . . 

It is a Mark of Want of Genius, to spend much Time 
in Things relating to the Body. . . . 

Every Thing hath two Handles ; the one, by which it 
may be borne ; the other, by which it cannot. If your 
Brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold on the Action by 
the Handle of his Injustice ; for by that it cannot be 
borne : but by the Opposite, that he is your Brother, that 
he was brought up with you : and thus you will lay hold 
on it, as it is to be borne. . . . 

Whatever Rules you have deliberately proposed to your- 
self [for the Conduct of Life] abide by them, as so many 
Laws, and as if you would be guilty of Impiety in trans- 
gressing any of them. . . . Let whatever appears to be 
the best, be to you an inviolable Law. And if any instance 
of Pain, or Pleasure, or Glory, or Disgrace be set before 
you, remember, that now is the Combat, now the Olympiad 
comes on, nor can it be put off; and that, by once being 
worsted, and giving way, Proficiency is lost, or [by the 



154 



A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



contrary] preserved. Thus Socrates became perfect, im- 
proving- himself by every tiling ; attending to nothing but 
Reason. And though you are not yet a Socrates, you 
ought however to live as one desirous of becoming a 

Socrates. 






MARCUS AURELIUS 

(A. D. 121-180.) 

"' It is more delightful,' says the great historian Niebuhr, 
' to speak of Marcus Aurelius than of any man in history ; 
for if there is any sublime human virtue it is his. He was 
certainly the noblest character of his time, and I know no 
other man who combined such unaffected kindness, mildness, 
and humility, with such conscientiousness and severity towards 
himself. We possess innumerable busts of him, for every 
Roman of his time was anxious to possess his portrait, and 
if there is anywhere an expression of virtue it is in the 
heavenly features of Marcus Aurelius.' 

"Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26, A. d. 121. His 
more correct designation would be Marcus Antoninus, but 
since he bore several different names at different periods of 
his life, and since at that age nothing was more common 
than a change of designation, it is hardly worth while to 
alter the name by which he is most popularly recognized. 
His father, Annius Verus, who died in his Praetorship, drew 
his blood from a line of illustrious men who claimed descent 
from Nuraa, the second King of Rome. His mother, Domitia 
Cal villa, was also a lady of consular and kingly race. The 
character of both seems to have been worthy of their high 
dignity. Of his father he can have known little, since An- 
nius died when Aurelius was a mere infant. . . . The child- 
hood and boyhood of Aurelius fell during the reign of Ha- 
drian. . . . Hadrian, though an able, indefatigable, and, on 
the whole, beneficial emperor, was a man whose character was 
stained with serious faults. It is, however, greatly to his 
honour that he recognized in Aurelius, at the early age of six 
years, the germs of those extraordinary virtues which after- 
wards blessed the empire and elevated the sentiments of 
mankind. . . . Towards the end of his long reign, worn out 
with disease and weariness, Hadrian, being childless, had 



156 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

adopted as his son L. Ceionius Commodus, a man who had 
few recommendations but his personal beauty. Upon his 
[Ceionius 's] death, which took place a year afterwards, Ha- 
drian, assembling the senators round his sick bed, adopted and 
presented to them as their future emperor Arrius Antoninus, 
better known by the surname of Pius, which he won by his 
gratitude to the memory of his predecessor. Had Aurelius 
been older — he was then but seventeen — it is known that 
Hadrian would have chosen him, and not Antoninus, for his 
heir. The latter, indeed, who was then fifty-two years old, 
was only selected on the express condition that he should in 
turn adopt both Marcus Aurelius and the son of the deceased 
Ceionius. Thus, at the age of seventeen, Aurelius, who, 
even from his infancy, had been loaded with conspicuous dis- 
tinctions, saw himself the acknowledged heir to the Empire 
of the world. . . . On the death of Hadrian in a. d. 138, 
Antoninus Pius succeeded to the throne, and, in accordance 
with the late emperor's conditions, adopted Marcus Aurelius 
and Lucius Commodus. . . . The long reign of Antoninus 
Pius is one of those happy periods that have no history." 
It was ended in A. d. 161 by his death. 

Marcus Aurelius then came to the throne, in association 
with his adoptive brother. The latter died in 169. "Mar- 
cus was now the undisputed lord of the Roman world. He 
was seated on the dizziest and most splendid eminence which 
it was possible for human grandeur to obtain. But this 
imperial elevation kindled no glow of pride or self-satisfac- 
tion in his meek and chastened nature. He regarded himself 
as being in fact the servant of all. It was his duty, like 
that of the bull in the herd, or the ram among the flocks, 
to confront every peril in his own person, to be foremost in 
all the hardships of war and most deeply immersed in all the 
toils of peace. . . . His ' Meditations ' were written amid 
the painful self-denial and distracting anxieties of his wars 
with the Quadi and the Marcomanni, and he was the author 
of other works, which unhappily have perished." He died 
in Pannonia on the 17th of March, A. D. 180. — F. W. 
Farrar, "Seekers after God." 

"The reading of Marcus Aurelius strengthens, but it does 
not console: it leaves a void in the soul which is at once 
cruel and delightful, which one would not exchange for full 






MARCUS AURELIUS 157 

satisfaction. Humility, renunciation, severity towards self, 
were never carried further. Glory — that last illusion of 
great souls — is reduced to nothingness. It is needful to do 
right without disturbing one's self as to whether any one 
knows that we do it. . . . The consequences of this austere 
philosophy might have been hardness and obstinacy. It is 
here that the rare goodness of Marcus Aurelius shines out in 
its full brilliancy. His severity is only for himself. The 
fruit of his great tension of soul is an infinite benevolence. 
All his life was a study of how to return good for evil. . . . 
One moment, thanks to him, the world was governed by the 
best and greatest man of his age. Frightful decadences fol- 
lowed ; but the little casket which contained the ' Thoughts ' 
on the banks of the Granicus was saved. From it came forth 
that incomparable book in which Epictetus was surpassed. 
. . . Veritable, eternal Evangel, the book of ' Thoughts ' 
which will never grow old, because it asserts no dogma. " — 
Ernest Kenan, " Marcus Aurelius " (" English Conferences, " 
trans, by Clara Erskine Clement). 

SELECTIONS FROM THE THOUGHTS OF MARCUS 
AURELIUS. 

(Translated by George Long.) 

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet 
with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, 
envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by 
reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But 
I who have seen the nature of the good, that it is beauti- 
ful, and of the bad, that it is ugly, and the nature of him 
who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not [only] of the 
same blood or seed, but that it participates in [the 
same] intelligence and [the same] portion of the divinity, 
I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can 
fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kins- 
man, nor hate him. For we are made for co-operation, 
like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the 



158 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then 
is contrary to nature ; and it is acting against one another 
to be vexed and to turn away. 

Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man, 
to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple 
dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice ; 
and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts. And 
thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy 
life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and 
passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all 
hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion 
which has been given to thee. Thou seest how few the 
things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he is able to 
live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of 
the gods ; for the gods on their part will require nothing 
more from him who observes these things. 

This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature 
of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is re- 
lated to that, and what kind of apart it is of what kind 
of a whole ; and that there is no one who hinders thee 
from always doing and saying the things which are ac- 
cording to the nature of which thou art a part. 

Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand 
years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remem- 
ber that no man loses any other life than this which he 
now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now 
loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the 
same. For the present is the same to all. . . . 

Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the com- 
mon interest, nor without due consideration, nor with dis- 
traction ; nor let studied ornament set off thy thoughts, 
and be not either a man of many words, or busy about too 
many things. . . . 

If thou findest in human life anything better than 



MARCUS AURELIUS 159 

justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, any- 
thing better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the 
things which it enables thee to do according to right rea- 
son, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without 
thy own choice ; if, I say, thou seest anything better than 
this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which 
thou hast found to be the best. . . . 

If thou workest at that which is before thee, following 
right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allow- 
ing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine 
part pure, as if thou shouldest be bound to give it back 
immediately ; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, 
fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity 
according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word 
and sound which thou utter est, thou wilt live happy. 
And there is no man who is able to prevent this. 

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand 
years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while 
it is in thy power, be good. 

Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, 
if thou wouldst be tranquil. — But consider if it would 
not be better to say, Do what is necessary, and whatever 
the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, 
and as it requires. For this brings not only the tran- 
quillity which comes from doing well, but also that which 
comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of 
what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes 
this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasi- 
ness. . . . 

Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast 
learned, and be content with it; and pass through the 
rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods with his 
whole soul all that he has, making thyself neither the 
tyrant nor the slave of any man. 



160 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this 
thought be present — I am rising to the work of a human 
being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do 
the things for which I exist and for which I was brought 
into the world? . . . 

Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be 
the character of thy mind ; for the soul is dyed by the 
thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous series of such 
thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can 
live, there he can also live well. . . . 

Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods 
who constantly shows to them that his own soul is satisfied 
with that which is assigned to him. . . . 

Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold 
or warm, if thou art doing thy duty ; and whether thou 
art drowsy or satisfied with sleep ; and whether ill-spoken 
of or praised ; and whether dying or doing something else. 
For it is one of the acts of life, this act by which we die : 
it is sufficient then in this act also to do well what we 
have in hand. 

The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like 
the wrong doer. 

It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this 
life, when thy body does not give way. 

Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has been 
cast : and the men among whom thou hast received thy 
portion, love them, but do it truly [sincerely]. 

Be not ashamed to be helped ; for it is thy business to 
do thy duty like a soldier in the assault on a town. How 
then, if being lame thou canst not mount up on the battle- 
ments alone, but with the help of another it is possible ? 

Let not future tilings disturb thee, for thou wilt come 
to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the 
same reason which now thou usest for present things. 



MARCUS AURELIUS 1G1 

When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately 
consider with what opinion about good or evil he has done 
wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, 
and wilt neither wonder nor be angry. . . . 

Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what 
thou hast : but of the things which thou hast select the 
best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been 
sought, if thou hadst them not. . . . 

In everything which happens keep before thy eyes those 
to whom the same things happened, and how they were 
vexed, and treated them as strange things, and found fault 
with them : and now where are they ? Nowhere. . . . 

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his 
own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from 
other men's badness, which is impossible. 

Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow 
him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom 
as it is to persist in thy error. . . . 

Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them 
then or bear with them. 

When thou art offended with any man's shameless con- 
duct, immediately ask thyself, Is it possible then that 
shameless men should not be in the world ? It is not 
possible. Do not then require what is impossible. . . . 

When thou hast assumed these names, good, modest, 
true, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous, 
take care that thou dost not change these names ; and if 
thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. . . . 

No longer talk about the kind of man that a good man 
ought to be, but be such. 

The safety of life is this, to examine everything all 
through, what it is itself, what is its material, what its 
formal part ; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the 
truth. What remains except to enjoy life by joining one 



162 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest 
intervals between ? 

How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable 
time is assigned to every man ? for it is very soon swal- 
lowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the 
whole substance? and how small a part of the universal 
soul? and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou 
creepest? Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be 
great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to en- 
dure that which the common nature brings. 



OPINIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM 

(About the seventh century.) 

"The Pahlavi phrase, Dina-i Mainog-i Khirad, * Opinions 
of the Spirit of Wisdom, ' " says E. W. West, from whose 
translation the following selections are taken, "is a name 
applied to sixty-two enquiries, or series of enquiries, on sub- 
jects connected with the religion of the Mazda-worshippers, 
made by an anonymous wise man and answered by the Spirit 
of Wisdom. . . . By the Spirit of Wisdom the author 
means the innate wisdom of Auharmazd. ... It was origi- 
nally created by Auharmazd, and is superior to the archan- 
gels. . . . The author was evidently a devoted Mazda- 
worshipper, and probably a layman. . . . Whether he wrote 
before or after the Arab conquest of Persia (a. d. 632-651) 
is doubtful." Two translations of this work have been made 
by Mr. West. The later one, from the original Pahlavi 
text, appeared in 1885, in the great collection of "The 
Sacred Books of the East," edited by Professor Max Muller. 
It is from the introduction to this that the quotations above 
are taken. The earlier translation, published in 1871, was 
from an Indian (Pazand- Sanskrit) version, in which the work 
bears the name Mainy6-i Khard. The following Rules of 
Life were selected from the last-mentioned translation by 
Mr. Moncure D. Conway for his "Sacred Anthology," and 
are here borrowed from that compilation. 

RULES OF LIFE. 

The sage asked the Spirit of Wisdom, How is it possi- 
ble to seek the preservation and prosperity of the body, 
without injury to the soul, and the deliverance of the soul 
without injury of the body ? 

The Spirit of Wisdom replied : — 

Slander not, lest ill-fame and wickedness come to thee 



164 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

therefrom ; for it is said every other demon attacks in the 
front, but Slander, which assaults from behind. 

Form no covetous desire, that avarice may not deceive 
thee, and that the benefit of the world may not be taste- 
less to thee, and that of the spirit unheeded. 

Practice not wrathfulness, since a man, when he prac- 
tises wrath, becomes then forgetful of his duties and good 
works. 

Suffer not anxiety, since he that is anxious is heedless 
of the enjoyment of the world and of the spirit, and decay 
results to his body and soul. 

Commit no lustfulness, lest, from thine own actions, 
injury and regret come to thee. 

Bear no envy, that life may not be tasteless for thee. 

Commit no sin through shame. 

Practice not slothful sleep, lest the duties and good 
works which it is necessary for thee to do remain undone. 

Utter no ill-timed gossip. 

Be diligent and discreet, and eat of thine own regular 
industry ; and form a portion for God and the good. 
This practice, in thy occupation, is the greatest good work. 

Plunder not from the wealth of others, lest thy own 
industry become unheeded; since it is said that whoever 
eats anything not from his own regular industry, but from 
another, is as one who devours men's heads. 

With enemies, struggle with equity. 

With friends, proceed with their approbation. 

With a malicious man, carry on no conflict, and no- 
wise molest him. 

With the covetous man, be not a partner, and trust 
him not with the leadershijD. 

With an ignorant man, be not a confederate ; with a 
foolish man, make no dispute ; from an ill-natured man, 
take no loan. 

With a slanderer, go not to the door of kings. 



MAIMONIDES 

(A. D. 1135-1204.) 

Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides, the greatest of 
mediaeval Jews, was born in Cordova, Spain, A. d. 1135, 
while that city remained in possession of the Moors, and dur- 
ing the reign of the Almoravides. On the fall of the Almo- 
ravid dynasty, which occurred in 1147, the more fanatical 
Almohades, then in power, began religious persecutions which 
drove the family of Maimonides, with other Jews, from the 
country. Moses settled finally at Fostat (Cairo), where the 
remainder of his life (which ended A. d. 1204) was spent. 
He became famous as a physician and as a scholar, and was 
the recognized spiritual head of the Jews of Cairo. He was 
a writer of extraordinary diligence, and his works, religious, 
philosophical, and medical, are numerous and extensive. His 
lasting fame rests mainly on the great philosophical treatise 
entitled "Moreh Nebuhchim, " or "Guide of the Perplexed," 
the importance of which in the history of philosophical 
thought has been increasingly recognized within recent times. 
An English translation of the work, by M. Friedlander, was 
published in 1885. 

MAIMONIDES, TO HIS SON IN HIS LAST WILL. 

Let me implore you to discern the excellency of light 
over darkness, to reject death and evil, and to choose life 
and good ; for the option is given to you ! Accustom 
yourself to good morals, for the nature of man dependeth 
upon habit, and habit taketh root in nature. Know ye 
that the perfection of the body precedes the perfection of 
the soul, and is like the key which openeth the inner sa- 
loon. Let, therefore, the chief purpose of perfecting your 



166 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

body be to perfect your soul, improve your morals, and 
open before you the gates of heaven. Conduct yourselves 
with care and with honour ; beware of associating with 
the wanton, of sitting in the streets, and of sporting with 
the young men, for thence proceedeth bad fruit. Always 
be found among respectable and learned men, only with 
humility and meekness and deference. Incline your 
head, and open the ears of your heart, to hearken and to 
listen to their words, what they praise and what they 
blame ; weigh their ideas and compare them, and then ye 
shall be wise and prosper. Keep your mouth and your 
tongue from wearying them with redundancy of speech. 
Measure your words with judgment, for by multiplying 
your words you will increase your errors. Be not proud 
or haughty in their presence, and be not ashamed to in- 
quire about anything which is obscure to you, but let it 
be done in proper time and in proper language. Consider 
and weigh the word well, ere you let it go forth from your 
mouth, for you cannot bring it back afterward. 

Love wisdom, seek her, and search for her as for silver 
and hid treasures. Attend on the threshold of the houses 
of the wise men, them that learn and teach : there shall 
be your recreation, there you will be delighted in hearing 
lectures on the sciences and on morals, new things, and 
the argument of the students. Be jealous of the men of 
knowledge, and despise the ignorant in your heart. When 
you ask a question or reply to one, be not rash, speak not 
precipitately, cry not aloud, nor speak with stammering 
lips. Speak in choice language, and in a pure tongue, in 
a moderate voice, and with points of the subject ; as one 
who seeketh to learn, and who searcheth for truth, and 
not as one who quarreleth and is eager for victory. . . . 

Love truth and righteousness, and cleave unto them ; 
for by them you will be sure to prosper, like unto one who 



MAIMONIDES 167 

buildeth upon a flinty rock. Hate falsehood and injus- 
tice, and " be not desirous of their dainties ; " for it is as 
one who buildeth upon sand, and to him apply the scrip- 
tural passage, " Say unto them who daub it with untem- 
pered mortar, that it shall fall." (Ezekiel xi. 13.) 

Let therefore truth, by which you may apparently lose, 
be more acceptable unto you than falsehood and injustice, 
by which you may apparently profit. Thus says the wise 
man in his Proverbs, " buy the truth and sell it not." 
(Prov. xxiii. 23.) Know ye that truth and justice are 
the ornaments of the soul, and give strength, security, and 
stability to the body. Indeed, I have found no remedy 
for weakness of heart like the pursuit of truth and jus- 
tice. . . . 

Keep firm to your word, let not bill, witnesses, or pos- 
session, be stronger in your sight than a promise made by 
word of mouth, whether in public or in private. Refrain 
from and disdain all deep reserves, cunning subterfuges, 
tricky pretexts, sharp practice, and flaws and evasions. 
Woe to him who buildeth his house upon them, for "it 
shall leave him in the midst of his days, and in his end he 
shall be a fool." Live by innocence, uprightness, and by 
purity ; and touch not that which is not yours, be it great 
or small. Taste not the least of anything which is not 
clearly and decidedly yours, flee far from doubtful pos- 
sessions, but, on the contrary, establish them firmly in the 
possession of those they belong to. Know that the tasting 
of doubtful goods causeth to be weary of sure goods, the 
tasting of little to be weary of much, and the tasting of 
the secret to be weary of the revealed, so that one becom- 
eth a confirmed and hardened thief and robber. Flee 
from such a man's face ; whosoever buys of him will not 
rejoice, and whoever selleth to him will have to regret it, 
he will be ashamed in his life and be confounded in his 



1G8 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

death. All this I have seen and put it to my heart. Who- 
ever conceiveth chaff bringeth forth stubble, but he c who 
to himself sows righteousness shall reap in mercy.' Enno- 
ble yourself by moral strictness and be satisfied of your 
faithfulness, for there is no nobility like that of morality, 
and there is no inheritance like faithfulness. Bring near 
to you those that are far, bow to the little ones, cause 
your face to shine upon the humble, have compassion 
upon the needy, and those that are ashamed of their pov- 
erty rejoice in your joy, and visit them in your festivals 
and appointed days " according to the good hand of God 
upon you." Take care that their faces be not put to the 
blush and shame on account of your gifts. Cease not 
doing good to whomever you can do good, and befriend 
the deserving whoever he may be. Despise inactivity and 
abhor indolence, for they are the causes of the destruction 
of the body, of want, of penury, of self -contempt, of fro- 
wardness of mouth, and of perverseness of lips ; they con- 
stitute the ladder to Satan and his satellites. All these 
evils are the pernicious fruits of sluggishness, whilst " in 
all labour there is profit." Do not make yourselves abom- 
inable by quarrelsomeness and petulance, which waste the 
body, the soul, and the property, and what else remains ? 
I have seen the white ones become black, the low brought 
still lower, families expatriated, princes deposed from 
their greatness, great cities laid in ruins, assemblies dis- 
persed, pious men destroyed, and men of faith lost, hon- 
ourable men rejected and despised, — all on account of 
quarrelsomeness. . . . Glory in forbearance, because that 
is the true strength and real victory ; for in your taking 
revenge there is a doubt ; perhaps ye may not attain it, 
and your heart will grow sick by hope deferred, and ye 
may perhaps increase your shame in case of failure, like 
unto one who flings a stone which redounds back upon 
his head. . . . 



MAIMONIDES 169 

Conduct yourselves with meekness and humility, for 
they are the steps of the ladder by which ye may climb 
the highest hill of virtue and excellency, and then ye 
hardly need forbearance. Know that there is no orna- 
ment so beautiful as that of humility. Behold the master 
of all prophets (Moses) was not so distinguished in Scrip- 
ture for any of his high attributes as for that of humility. 
Keep a bridle upon your tongue and a muzzle upon your 
mouth. . . . 

If the spiritual part, the understanding, rules and sub- 
dues the physical desires, the latter will succumb and seek 
but that which is necessary, will be satisfied with the little, 
and disdain superfluities ; he will be contented in life and 
comforted in death. Eat that ye may live, and condemn 
all that is superfluous. Believe not that the multitude 
of eating and drinking enlarges the body and increases the 
understanding, as a sack which is filled by that which is 
put therein : for it is just the contrary. ... Be careful 
in taking wine, for it destroys the mighty and disgraces 
the honourable. . . . 

Know, that Expenditure is divided into four classes : 
Profit, Loss, Disgrace, and Honour. Profit is the expen- 
diture of charity and benevolence, the interest of which 
ye enjoy in this world, whilst the capital is laid up as an 
endowment for the future. Loss is gambling, by which 
man loseth his money, his respect, and his time ; for if he 
gaineth, he weaveth spiders' webs, and " it is a trespass 
he hath certainly trespassed." Disgrace is that which is 
extravagantly spent in eating and drinking. Honour is 
the expenditure for garments for his skin. Dress, there- 
fore, as well as your means will possibly allow ; but eat 
less than your means, only sufficient to preserve your 
lives. Despise gambling, and keep aloof from gamblers. 
M Sow in righteousness," that is, spend in alms even some- 



170 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

what more than your means will permit, and " ye will reap 
in mercy." Live happily in the society of your friends, 
and with the wife of your youthful years ; but touch not 
the one which is not yours, for " she hath cast down many 
wounded : yea, many strong men have been slain by her." 
. . . Serve your friends and your friendless with all your 
physical power and might, " according to the good hand 
of the Lord upon you " ; but take heed lest ye serve them 
with your souls, for they are a godly portion. Remember 
this, my son Abraham ; and the Lord, blessed be he, shall 
have mercy upon thee ! 



WELSH TRIADS 

(12th-14th centuries.) 

A favorite form of mediaeval Welsh literature was that 
of the sententious compositions known as "triads," in which 
thoughts or subjects were grouped by threes. Considerable 
collections of these have survived, and some writers have 
endeavored to trace their origin to Druidical times; but 
recent Celtic scholars seem to be generally persuaded that the 
triads have no earlier source than among the Welsh bards of 
the twelfth century and afterwards. The following is a 
collection grouped as " Moral Triads : " 



MORAL TRIADS 

(From " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Cymry," by Rev. John 
Williams, p. 28.) 

1. The three primary principles of wisdom : obedience 
to the laws of God, concern for the welfare of mankind, 
and suffering with fortitude all the accidents of life. 

2. The three great laws of man's actions : what he for- 
bids in another, what he requires from another, and what 
he cares not how it is done by another. 

3. Three things well understood will give peace : the 
tendencies of nature, the claims of justice, and the voice 
of truth. 

4. There are three ways of searching the heart of man : 
in the thing he is not aware of, in the manner he is not 
aware of, and at the time he is not aware of. 

5. There are three things, and God will not love him 



172 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

that loves to look at them : fighting, a monster, and the 
pomposity of pride. 

6. Three things produce wisdom : truth, consideration, 
and suffering. 

7. The three great ends of knowledge : duty, utility, 
and decorum. 

8. There are three men that all ought to look upon 
with affection : he that with affection looks at the face of 
the earth, that is delighted with rational works of art, and 
that looks lovingly on little infants. 

9. Three men will not love their country : he that loves 
luxurious food, he that loves riches, and he that loves 
ease. 

10. The three laughs of a fool : at the good, at the bad, 
and at he knows not what. 

11. Three things corrupt the world: pride, superfluity, 
and indolence. 



SAINT LOUIS 

(A. D. 1215-1270.) 

Of Louis IX., king of France, who reigned from A. d. 
1226 to-1270, and who became "Saint Louis" in the calen- 
dar of the Roman Church by the canonizing decree of Pope 
Boniface VIII. in 1297, M. Guizot says: "The world has 
seen more profound politicians on the throne, greater gener- 
als, men of more mighty and brilliant intellect, princes who 
have exercised a more powerful influence over later genera- 
tions and events subsequent to their own time; but it has 
never seen such a king as this St. Louis ; never seen a man 
possessing sovereign power and yet not contracting the vices 
and passions which attend it ; displaying upon the throne in 
such a high degree every human virtue purified and ennobled 
by Christian faith. St. Louis did not give any new or per- 
manent impulse to his age ; he did not strongly influence the 
nature or the development of civilization in France; whilst 
he endeavored to reform the gravest abuses of the feudal 
system by the introduction of justice and public order, he 
did not endeavor to abolish it, either by the substitution of 
a pure monarchy, or by setting class against class in order to 
raise the royal authority high above all. He was neither an 
egotist nor a scheming diplomatist; he was in all sincerity in 
harmony with his age, and sympathetic alike with the faith, 
the institutions, the customs, and the tastes of France in the 
thirteenth century. And yet, both in the thirteenth century 
and in later times, St. Louis stands apart as a man of pro- 
foundly original character; an isolated figure, without any 
peer among his contemporaries or his successors ; so far as it 
was possible in the Middle Ages, he was an ideal man, king, 
and Christian," 



174 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ST. LOUIS'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON. 

(From "St. Louis, King of France," by the Sire de Joinville; trans- 
lated by James Hutton.) 

" After lie had landed at Tunis, before the Castle of 
Carthage, he was seized with dysentery, for which he took 
to bed, and was sensible that he must soon pass from this 
world to the next. Thereupon he called Monseigneur 
Philip, his son, and commanded him to observe, as if it 
were a will, all the instructions he left him, which instruc- 
tions the king, it is said, wrote out with his own sainted 
hand. 

" ' Fair son, the first thing I teach thee is to mould thy 
heart to love God ; for without that no one can be saved. 
Take care not to do anything which may displease God, to 
wit, a deadly sin ; on the contrary, thou shouldst endure all 
sorts of outrage and torture rather than commit a deadly 
sin. If God send thee adversity, accept it patiently, and 
render thanks to our Lord, and think that thou hast de- 
served it, and that it will turn wholly to thy advantage. If 
He bestows upon thee prosperity, thank Him humbly, so 
that thou art not worse through pride or other cause when 
thou oughtest to be better, for no one ought to war against 
God with gifts. Confess thyself frequently, and choose 
as confessor a man of discretion, who shall teach thee 
what thou oughtest to do and what thou oughtest to avoid. 
And thou shouldst bear and comport thyself in such man- 
ner that thy confessor and friends may venture to reprove 
thee for thy misdeeds. Attend devoutly to the service of 
the Holy Church, both with heart and mouth, especially 
at mass during the consecration. Let thy heart be gentle 
and compassionate towards the poor, the unfortunate, and 
the afflicted, and comfort and help them so far as in thee 



SAINT LOUIS 175 

lies. Maintain the good customs of thy kingdom, and put 
down the bad. Be not covetous against thy people, and 
do not load thy conscience with imposts and taxes. If 
thou hast any sorrow at heart, tell it straightway to thy 
confessor, or to some discreet man who is not full of idle 
words ; then thou wilt bear it more easily. Take care to 
have in thy company discreet and loyal persons, whether 
religious or secular, who are not full of covetousness, and 
converse frequently with them ; but flee and avoid the 
society of the wicked. Listen gladly to the word of God, 
and keep it in thy heart ; and seek earnestly for prayers 
and indulgences. Love what is good and profitable ; hate 
whatever is evil, wherever it be. Let no one be so bold 
as to utter before thee any word that may lead to or excite 
a sin, or to speak evil of others behind their backs ; neither 
suffer any profane thing to be said of God in thy pre- 
sence. Render thanks frequently to God for all the good 
things He has bestowed upon thee, so that thou be worthy 
of still greater blessings. In administering justice and 
doing right to thy subjects be loyal and firm, without 
turning to the right hand or to the left ; but help the 
right, and uphold the complaint of the poor man until the 
truth be made manifest. And if any one has an action 
against thee, do not believe anything until thou knowest 
the whole truth ; for then thy counsellors will judge more 
boldly according to truth, either for or against thee. If 
thou hast anything that belongeth to another, either 
through thee or thy predecessors, and the thing be cer- 
tain, make restitution without delay ; but if the thing be 
doubtful, institute an inquiry into it by means of wise 
men, promptly and diligently. It is thy duty to take 
care that thy people and subjects live under thee in peace 
and uprightness. Above all, keep the good towns and 
customs of thy kingdom in the condition and liberties in 



176 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

which thy predecessors preserved them ; and if there be 
anything to amend, amend and redress it, and keep them 
in favour and affection ; for because of the power and 
riches of the great cities thy subjects and foreigners will 
fear to do anything against thee, especially thy peers and 
thy barons. Honour and love all persons belonging to the 
Holy Church, and take heed that no one wrests from them, 
or diminishes the gifts and alms which thy predecessors 
have bestowed. It is related of King Philip, my grand- 
father, that on one occasion one of his counsellors told 
him that the people of the Holy Church did him much 
wrong in that they infringed his rights and encroached 
upon his jurisdiction, and that it was great marvel he suf- 
fered it ; and the good king answered, that he was well 
aware of it ; but when he reflected upon the goodness and 
favour God had shown to himself, he preferred to .lose 
something of his rights than to have any dispute with 
the people of the Holy Church. To thy father and thy 
mother show honour and respect, and keep their com- 
mandments. Bestow the benefices of the Holy Church 
upon persons of worth and of unspotted lives ; and act by 
the advice of wise and honourable men. Take care not 
to undertake a war against a Christian prince without 
grave deliberation ; and if it be necessary for thee to do 
so, watch over the Holy Church and those who have done 
thee no wrong. If wars and disputes arise between thy 
subjects, appease them as speedily as thou canst. Be 
careful to have good provosts and bailiffs, and make fre- 
quent inquiries about them and the people of thy house- 
hold, as to how they conduct themselves, and if they are 
guilty of overmuch greed, or of treachery or deceit. La- 
bour to root out of thy kingdom all vile sinfulness ; espe- 
cially put down with all thy might profane oaths and 
heresy. Take heed that the charges of thy household be 



SAINT LOUIS 177 

reasonable. Lastly, sweet son, cause masses to be chanted 
and prayers offered up for my soul throughout thy king- 
dom ; and grant me a special and positive part in all the 
good that thou shalt do. Fair, dear son, I bestow upon 
thee all the benedictions that a good father can give unto 
a son. And may the blessed Trinity preserve and defend 
thee from all evil; and may God give thee grace, to do 
always His will, so that He may be honoured by thee, and 
that thou and I, after this mortal life, may be together 
with Him, and praise Him without end. Amen.' " 



MEDIEVAL PEECEPTS 

(From Thomas Wright's " History of Domestic Manners and Senti- 
ments in England," chapter viii.) 

" The early metrical romances of the Carlo vingian cycle 
give us an insight into what were considered as the praise- 
worthy features in the character of the feudal knight. In 
' Doon of Mayence,' for example, when the aged count 
Guy sends his young son Doon into the world, he coun- 
sels him thus : * You shall always ask questions of good 
men, and you shall never put your trust in a stranger. 
Every day, fair son, you shall hear the holy mass, and 
give to the poor whenever you have money, for God will 
repay you double. Be liberal in gifts to all ; for the 
more you give, the more honour you will acquire, and the 
richer you will be; for a gentleman who is too sparing 
will lose all in the end, and die in wretchedness and dis- 
grace ; but give without promising whenever you can. 
Salute all people when you meet them, and, if you owe 
anything, pay it willingly ; but if you cannot pay, ask for 
a respite. When you come to the hostelry, don't stand 
squabbling, but enter glad and joyously. When you 
enter the house, cough very loud, for there may be some- 
thing doing which you ought not to see, and it will cost 
you nothing to give this notice of your approach, while 
those who happen to be there will love you the better for 
it. Do not quarrel with your neighbour, and avoid dis- 
puting with him before other people ; for if he know any- 
thing against you, he will let it out, and you will have the 
shame of it. When you are at court, play at tables, and 






MEDIAEVAL PRECEPTS 179 

if you have any good points of behaviour (depors), show 
them ; you will be the more prized, and gain the more 
advantage. Never make a noise or joke in church ; this 
is only done by unbelievers, whom God loves not. Honour 
all the clergy, and speak fairly to them, but leave them 
as little of your goods as you can ; the more they get 
from you, the more you will be laughed at ; you will never 
profit by enriching them. And if you wish to save your 
honour undiminished, meddle with nothing you do not un- 
derstand, and don't pretend to be a proficient in what you 
have never learnt. And if you have a valet, take care 
not to seat him at the table by you, or take him to bed 
with you ; for the more honour you do to a low fellow, 
the more will he despise you. If you should know any- 
thing that you would wish to conceal, tell it by no means 
to your wife, if you have one ; for if you let her know it, 
you will repent of it the first time you displease her.' 

" With these counsels of a father, we may compare 
those of a mother to her son. In the romance of ' Huon 
de Bordeaux,' when the youthful hero leaves his home to 
repair to the court of Charlemagne, the duchess addresses 
her son as follows : ' My child,' she said, ' you are going 
to be a courtier ; I require you, for God's love, have no- 
thing to do with a treacherous flatterer ; make the acquaint- 
ance of wise men. Attend regularly at the service of holy 
church, and show honour and love to the clergy. Give 
your goods willingly to the poor ; be courteous, and spend 
freely, and you will be the more loved and cherished.' On 
the whole, higher sentiments are placed in the mouth of 
the lady than in that of the baron." 



180 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



SELECTED RULES OF GOOD BEHAVIOR FROM A BOOK 
ENTITLED "STANS PUER AD MENSAM." 

(From Thomas Wright's " History of Domestic Manners," ch. ix.) 

Every one was considered to show his good manners 
best, or at least to be expected to do so, in the hall at 
table, and manners at table were among those in which 
the scholar was first instructed. Among the most com- 
mon of the pieces in Latin verse, composed for the pur- 
pose of which I am here speaking, is one bearing, under 
rather different forms, the title of « Stans Puer ad Men- 
sam ' — (the boy standing at table), as it gives directions 
for his conduct under those circumstances. Several copies 
of this piece, which is written in Latin hexameters, are 
found among the mediaeval manuscripts of the British 
Museum of different dates. One of these occurs in the 
Harl. MS., No. 1002, in a handwriting of the fifteenth 
century, the age in which the outward forms of mediaeval 
manners were perhaps most insisted upon, and from this 
copy I will give a review of its teaching and doctrines. 
" While you are standing at your lord's table," the scholar 
is told, " learn the good maxims " — 

Stans puer ad mensam domini, bona dogmata discas. 

Attention is first called to the personal bearing of the 
boy. He is while talking to " keep at perfect ease, and 
his fingers, hands, and feet quiet, to hold his counte- 
nance undisturbed, and not to roll his eyes about in every 
direction ; nor is he to fix his eyes upon the wall as if it 
were a looking-glass, or lean upon the post as if it were a 
walking-staff " — 

Dum loqueris digitique manus in paoe pedes sint. 
Sis simplex vultu, visum nee ubique revolvas, 
Nee paries speculum, baculus nee sit tibi postis. 



MEDIAEVAL PRECEPTS 181 

Still less ought lie in such company to pick his nose or to 
scratch himself, or to lean his head, but to look in the 
face of the one speaking — 

Non nares fodeas, cariiem propriam neque scalpus, 
Nee caput inclines, facies sit in ore loquentis. 

He is to go demurely in walking in the streets and 
ways — 

Pergas in pace per vicos atque plateas. 

He was not to let the colour in his face change suddenly 
through levity ; nor to burst into horse-laughs in the pre- 
sence of his lord — " despise laughing, by which you may 
be brought into contempt " — 

Nee coram domino debes monastrare cachinnos ; 
Sperne cachinnare, poteris quo vilificari. 

" Hold to these maxims, if thou wilt be considered po- 
lite " — 

Haec documenta tene, si vis urbanus haberi. 
Next come the directions for behaviour at eating in the 
feudal meal. The first is, " Never take your food with 
unwashed hands " — 

Illotis manibus escam ne sumpseris unquam ; 

and " take the seat which the host has pointed out to you; 
never presuming on a high place, unless you have been 
ordered to take it " — 

Atque loco sedeas tibi quern signaverit hospes ; 

Altum sperne locum tibi sumere sis nisi jussus. 
" Touch not the bread and wine till the dishes are placed, 
or you will be said to be starved or gluttonous " — 

Fercula donee sint sita, pani parce meroque, 

Ne fame captus dicaris, sive gulosus ; 
" Nor eat anything until grace has been said " — 

Nee escas capias donee benedictio fiat. 



182 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

" Let thy nails be clean, lest perchance they offend thy 
neighbour " — 

Mundi sint ungues, noceant ne forte sodali. 
" Eat all that has been served to you, or let it be given 
to the poor " — 

Morsellum totum comedas, vel detur egenis. 
It was customary at the mediaeval table, in thei course of 
carving, to lay aside a portion of the provisions for the 
poor, for whom there was a basket, or some large vessel, 
in the hall, in which all the offal was placed, and it was 
sent out in charity to the beggars, who assembled at the 
hall-door in the court. Hence it was considered a part of 
genteel behaviour in hall to put aside the part of your 
own share of provisions which you were unable to eat 
yourself, and add it to that which was sent to the poor. 

You are taught to be quiet at table, and not to indulge 
in much chattering. 

Pace fruens multis caveas garrire loquelis. 
" Avoid swelling out your cheeks by taking a great 
lump into your mouth at once " — 

Maxillamque bolo caveas expandere magno. 
"Nor eat your food on both sides of your mouth at 
once " — 

Nee gemina parte vescaris cibis simul oris. 
" Never laugh or talk with your mouth full " — 

Nunquam ridebis nee faberis ore repleto. 
Directions are then given with regard to your plate. 
You are not to make a noise in it by overeating; the 
spoon is not to be left standing in it, nor lying on its 
edge, for fear of fouling the table-cloth ; nor must you 
return to the dish a morsel once taken up ; and call not 
back to the table a dish which has been taken away — 



MEDIAEVAL PRECEPTS 183 

In disco nunquam cochlear stet, nee super oram 
Ipsius jaceat, ne mappam polluat udo. 
In discum tacta buccella retrograda non sit ; 
Discum t de mensa sublatum nee revocabis. 

" Never spit over the table or upon it " — 

Non ultra mensara spueris nee desuper unquam. 

" Scrape not nor scratch your own skin with your fin- 
gers ; always avoid wiping your nose with a clean hand," 
— handkerchiefs were not in use at the time, — " and at 
table avoid picking your teeth with your knife " — 

Non carnem propriam digitis verres neque scalpas ; 
Semper munda manus devitet tergere nasum ; 
Mensa cultello dentes mundare caveto. 

" Drink not at table while you have food in your 
mouth " — 

Ore tenens escas potum superaddere noli. 

" Never bring to table what may offend your compan- 
ions " — 

Quod noceat sociis in mensa ne refer unquam. 

This refers to familiarity with animals — " Be careful 
at table not to handle the cat or the dog" — 

Mensa murilegum caveas palpare canemque. 

The young guest was admonished to beware of staining 
the table-cloth with his knife — 

Mensa cultello mappam maculare caveto. 

And he has to wipe his mouth before drinking — 

Oreque polluto non potabis nisi terso. 

. . . This Latin metrical code of good manners con- 
cludes with the wish that all who refuse to conform to 



184 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

these teachings should be banished from every polite 
table — 

Privetur mensa qui spernit haec documenta. 
In the Harleian MS., this poem ends with the state- 
ment that the author of this code was the celebrated Robert 
Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, one of the bright stars of 
English literature and learning in the thirteenth cen- 
tury— 

Haec qui me docuit, Grossum-caput est sibi nomen. 
Praesul et ille fuit, cui det felix Deus omen. 






*<" 



THE KNIGHT OF LA TOUR-LANDRY 

(A. D. 1381.) 

The late Mr. Thomas Wright, in introducing a translation 
of "The Book of the Knight of La Tour-Landry, compiled 
for the instruction of his Daughters, " says that the book was 
first translated from the original French into English in the 
reign of Henry VI. The author of it was Geoffroy de la 
Tour, lord of the feudal castle of La Tour-Landry, in the 
province of Anjou. The ruins of the old castle are still to be 
seen. The book was begun in 1381, for the instruction and 
guidance of his three motherless daughters. Mention is made 
in the text of a previous book, which he had compiled for 
the use of his sons, but no MS. of it is known to exist. In 
compiling this work for his daughters the knight followed the 
practice of mediaeval times, of teaching morals and religion 
by means of popular stories and historical narratives. In 
collecting these anecdotes he employed two priests and two 
clerks. 

"A very large proportion of the stories given by Geoffroy 
de la Tour-Landry are taken from the Scriptures and from 
the lives of saints and other similar productions; but, like 
other moralists of his age, he adopted the stories of the 
fabliaux, and the tales of the popular conteur, whenever they 
seemed to suit his purpose, and in his choice he has not 
rejected some which were better fitted by their want of deli- 
cacy to the ears of his contemporaries than to those of modern 
times. There then existed very little of refinement in word 
or thought, and, in the best society, both sexes often con- 
versed in terms and on subjects which are in strange discord- 
ance with our modern sentiments. 

" No doubt under the pretext of instructing his own daugh- 
ters, Geoffroy 's design was to write a treatise on the domestic 
education of women, and his plan appears to have extended 
still further, and to have been intended to embrace the other 



186 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

sex also. We learn positively from several passages in the 
present book, that he had already compiled a similar book 
for the use of his sons, and, from the way in which he speaks 
of it, the compilation of this other work must have preceded 
the book for the instruction of his daughters by some years. 
' And, therefore, ' he says at the end of his prologue, ' y have 
made .ij. bokes, one for my sones, another for my doughtres.' 
In another place, in warning his daughters against drunken- 
ness, he says, ' as ye shal flnde it more pleinly in the boke 
of youre brethren;' and again, at the close of the book, in 
Caxton' s translation, the knight is made to say, ' as hit is 
reherced in the booke of my two sonnes.' At least one other 
allusion to this book is found in the French text ; yet, strange 
to say, nobody has ever heard of the existence of a copy of 
this treatise for the instruction of the Knight's sons, nor has 
any trace of it ever been discovered except in the mention of 
it in the book of which the translation is now published. 

"The book which Geoff roy de la Tour-Landry compiled 
for the instruction of his daughters, on the contrary, appears 
to have become extremely popular. Nearly a dozen copies 
of the original text are known to exist in manuscript, of 
which seven are in the Bibliotheque Imperial in Paris, and 
one in the Library of the British Museum. . . . 

"The popularity of this book soon extended to foreign 
lands, and it was translated into several languages. The 
two earliest printed translations appeared in Germany and 
England very nearly at the same date. . . . 

"The first edition in English, as we are informed in the 
colophon at the end, was translated by our first printer, 
William Caxton, and printed by him. . . . 

"There existed, however, an English translation of the 
Book of Geoffroy de la Tour-Landry long anterior to that of 
Caxton, though it was never printed. It is anonymous, and 
we have no means whatever of ascertaining the name of the 
author, or in fact, anything whatever of its history. It is 
contained in a manuscript in the Harleian collection in the 
British Museum. . . . This translation is in many respects 
superior to that of Caxton. . . . This earlier translation, 
moreover, furnishes a far more elegant and interesting monu- 
ment of the English language in the fifteenth century. It 
is for these reasons that I have chosen it for the text of the 






THE KNIGHT OF LA TOUR-LANDRY 187 

present volume. Unfortunately, it is an imperfect manu- 
script, for there are one or two lacunae in the body of the 
work, and it is truncated at the end by nearly one-fifth of 
the whole. Under these circumstances, the only resource 
was to supply from Caxton's text the parts which are wanting 
in the inedited manuscript." 



PASSAGES FROM " THE BOOK OF THE KNIGHT OF LA 
TOUR-LANDRY." 

(Early English Text Society, Publication 33.) 
HOW AND WHY THE BOOK WAS MADE. 

In the yere of the incarnacion of oure Lord M le iijc 
lxxj, as y was in a gardin, al heui and fulle of thought, in 
the shadow, about the ende of the monthe of Aprille, but 
a litelle y reioysed me of the melodie and song of the 
wilde briddes ; thei sang there in her langages, as the thrus- 
tille, the thrusshe, the nytinggale, and other briddes, the 
which were fulle of mirthe and ioye ; and thaire suete 
songe made my herte to lighten, and made me to think of 
the tyme that is passed of my youthe, how loue in gret 
distresse had holde me, and how y was in her sernice mani 
tymez fulle of sorugh and gladnesse, as mani lovers ben. 
But my sorw was heled, and my seruice wel ysette and 
quitte, for he gaue [me a] fayr wyff , and that was bothe 
faire and good, [who had knowleche of alle honoure, alle 
good, and of fay re mayntenynge,] and of alle good she 
was bell and the floure ; and y delited me so moche in her 
that y made for her loue songges, balades, rondelles, viro- 
layes, and diuerse [other] thinges in the best wise that y 
couthe. But dethe, that on alle makithe werre, toke her 
from me, the whiche hathe made me haue mani a soruf ulle 
thought and gret heuinesse. And so it is more than .xx. 
yeere that I haue ben for her ful of gret sorugh. For a 



188 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

true loveris hert forgetith neuer the woman that enis he 
hathe truli loued. And as y was in the saide gardein, 
thinkynge of these thought [s], y sawe come towardes me 
my .iij. doughters, of the whiche I was ioyful, and had grete 
desire that thei shuld turne to good and worship aboue 
alle ertheli thinges, for thei were yonge and had but tendir 
witte ; and so atte the begynnyng a man aught to lerne 
his doughters with good ensaumples, ye vinge as dede the 
quene Proues of Hongrie, that faire and goodly chastised 
and taught her doughters, as it [is] contened in her boke. 
. . . Therefor y purposed to make a litelle boke in the 
whiche y wolde write the good condiciones and dedes of 
ladies and gentille women, that for her goodnesse were 
worshipped, honoured, praised, and renomed the tyme 
passed, and euer shalle be, for her weldoinge and goodnes, 
to that entent that my doughtres shulde take ensaumple 
of faire continuaunce and good manere. And also y wol 
make write the manere contrarie of goodnesse, the whiche 
is called the boke of hurting of euelle women, that hath 
vsed to do euelle and had blames, to that entent that who 
so luste may kepe hem from harme ther thei might erre, 
as thei that yet be blamed, dishonoured, and shamed. & 
for these causes aforesaid, y thought to make this litelle 
boke to my yong doughtres, wherupon thei might rede and 
studie, to that entent that thei might lerne and see both 
good and euelle of the tyme passed, and for to kepe hem in 
good clennesse, and from alle euelle in tyme comyng. . . . 
Ther for the resones that y haue saide you, y parted and 
yede out of the gardein, and fonde in my way .ij. prestes 
and .ij. clerkes that y had. And y said to hem that y 
wolde make a boke of ensaumples, for to teche my dough- 
tres, that thei might vnderstond how thei shulde gouerne 
hem, and knowe good from euell. And so y made hem 
extraie me ensaumples of the Bible and other bokes that 









THE KNIGHT OF LA TOUR-LANDRY 189 

y had, as the gestis of kinges, the croniclez of Fraunce, 
Grece, of Inglond, and of niani other straunge londes. 
And y made hem rede me eueri boke ; and ther that y 
fonde a good ensaumple, y made extraie it oute. And 
tlianne y made this boke. But y wolde not sette it in 
ryme, but in prose, forto abregge it, and that it might be 
beter and more pleinly to be understond. And y made 
this boke for the gret loue that y had to my said dough- 
tres. . . . 

CHAPTER X. 

HOW WOMEN SHULDE BEHAUE HEM CURTESLY AND MERELY. 

Affter, doughtres, ye must be meke and curteys, for 
there nis none so grete a vertu to gete the grace of God 
and the loue of alle peple ; for humilite and curtesie ouer- 
comithe alle proude hertys that be felle, as a sparhauke, be 
he neuer so ramageus, ye may ouercome hym with goodly 
and curteys demening, ye may make hym come from the 
tre to youre honde. And yef ye fare rudely and be cruelle 
with hym, he will fie his way and neuer come atte you. 
And sethe that curtesye and softenesse may ouercome a 
wilde bridde, that hathe no reson, nedes it aught to refraine 
felons proude herte of man and woman. And humilite is 
the furst entre and wey of frenship and wordely loue, and 
that ouercomithe gret hertis, and suagithe ire and wrathe 
of alle persones. Ther was a lorde that y knew, that 
conquered the knightes and squiers by his curtesie and 
humilite to do hem [more] plesaunce in the tyme of his 
werre, than other lordes couthe gete with her gold and 
siluer or ani other yeftes. And also y haue know mani 
ladies and gentille women that haue gote hem moche loue 
of gret and smale for her curtesie and humilite. And 
ther for y rede you be curteys and humble to gret and 
smale, and to do curtesie and reuerence, and speke to hem 



190 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

falre, and to be meke in ansuere to the pore, and thei wol 
praise you, and bere fortlie of you good worde and good 
fame more than wolle the grete that ye make curtesie to ; 
for to grete ye make curtesie of right, the whiche is 
dew to hem, but the curtesie that is made to poure gentil- 
men, or to other of lasse degre, it comithe of fre and gen- 
tille curteys and humble hert. And the smalle peple that 
the curtesye and humblesse is done to, holdithe hem wor- 
shipped therby, and thanne, ouer alle there thei comithe, 
thei praisithe and spekithe good of hym that dothe hem 
reuerence and curtesie. And of the pore that curtesie is 
done to, comithe gret loos and good name fro tyme to tyme, 
and gettithe loue of the peple ; as it happed as y was not 
longe sethe with a companie of knyhtes and ladies, a gret 
ladi dede of her hode and bowed her ayenst a taillour. 
And one of the knyghtes saide, " Madame, ye haue done 
of youre hode to a taillour." And she said that she was 
gladder that she had do it of to hym thanne to a lorde. 
And thei alle sawe her mekenesse and wisdom, and helde 
her wyse, and the knight leuid that tolde her of the 
tailour. . . . 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

OP GOOD EXAMPLES. 

And there be other be wyse, that haue her herte and 
hope of God. And for the loue and fere that thei haue 
in hym, thei kepe hem clene and fy tithe ayenst tempt a- 
ciones, and the braydes of the fyre of lecherye, and kepithe 
hem suerly withoute delycious metes, for the flesshe is 
tempted by delycious metes and drinkes, the which bene 
leteres and kindelers of the brondes of lecherye ; and other 
that haue grace to thenke that they haue su^fisaunce, and 
that is ayenst couetise. And there be other that haue 
free hert, true and iuste, and be not riotous ; for who that 



THE KNIGHT OF LA TOUR-LANDRY 191 

sekithe ryot gladly, he metithe therewith, for many men 
for anger betithe hym selff with his owne staffe, and sekithe 
hym sorw from day to day. And God blessithe in the 
gospelle the meke and the humble hert. And all these 
men that kepithe hem selff elene, and in the loue and 
drede of God, and of his neighboures, shewithe welle who 
is her fader, and that is God the fader, of the which they 
kepe his comaun dementis as holy chirche techithe hem. 
And they haue free hert to witholde good ensaumples of 
lyff, and ioye perdurable, and of saluation. And therfor, 
faire doughters, haue night and day youre hertes to hym 
and loue hym, and drede hym, and he wille kepe you and 
saue you from perille and temptaciones. And therfor, my 
faire doughters, y wille shewe you and declare you by this 
boke the good ladyes that God preisithe in the Bybille, 
and for thaire holy lyff shal euer be praised, and therfor 
takithe ensaumple to lyue clenly and honestly as thei 
dede. And also y wille declare you sum euelle women 
that were diuerse and cruelle, the whiche made and hadde 
euelle ende, to that entent that ye may take hede by hem 
to kepe you from the euelle, that ye falle not inne. 






WYCLIF 

(A. D. 1320-1384.) 

""Wyclif, Langland, and Chaucer are the three great 
figures of English literature in the Middle Ages. 

"Wyclif belonged to the rich and respected family of the 
Wyclif s, lords of the manor of Wyclif, in Yorkshire. He 
was born about 1320, and devoted himself early to a scien- 
tific and religious calling. He studied at Oxford, where he 
soon attracted notice, being one of those men of character 
who occupy from the beginning of their lives, without seeking 
for it, but being, as it seems, born to it, a place apart amid 
the limp multitude of men. The turn of his mind, the origi- 
nality of his views, the firmness of his will, his learning, 
raised him above others; he was one of those concerning 
whom it is at once said they are ' some one ; ' and several 
times in the course of his existence he saw the University, 
the King, the country even, turn to him when ' some one ' 
was needed. 

"He was hardly thirty-five when, the college of Balliol at 
Oxford having lost its master, he was elected to the post. 
In 1366 Parliament ruled that the Pope's claim to the trib- 
ute promised by King John should no longer be recognized, 
and Wyclif was asked to draw up a pamphlet justifying the 
decision. In 1374 a diplomatic mission was entrusted to 
him, and he went to Bruges, with several other * ambassa- 
tores, ' to negotiate with the Pope's representatives. He 
then had the title of doctor of divinity. 

"Various provincial livings were successively bestowed 
upon him: that of Fillingham in 1361; that of Ludgarshall 
in 1368 ; that of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, in 1374, 
which he kept till his death. He divided his time between 
his duties as rector, his studies, his lectures at Oxford, and 
his life in London, where he made several different stays, and 
preached some of his sermons. 



WYCLIF 193 

"These quiet occupations were interrupted from time to 
time owing to the storms raised by his writings. But so 
great was his fame, and so eminent his personality, that he 
escaped the terrible consequences that heresy then involved. 
He had at first alarmed religious authority by his political 
theories on the relations of Church and State, next on the 
reformation of the Church itself; finally he created excessive 
scandal by attacking dogmas and by discussing the sacra- 
ments. . . . 

"Besides his writings and his speeches, he used, in order 
to popularize his doctrines, his l simple priests, ' or ' poor 
priests, ' who, without being formed into a religious order, 
imitated the wandering life of the friars, but not their men- 
dicity, and strove to attain the ideal which the friars had 
fallen short of. They went about preaching from village 
to village, and the civil authority was alarmed by the politi- 
cal and religious theories expounded to the people by these 
wanderers, who journeyed ' from county to county, and from 
town to town, in certain habits under dissimulation of great 
holiness, without license of our Holy Father the Pope, or of 
the ordinary of «the diocese.' Wyclif justified these unli- 
censed preachings by the example of St. Paul, who, after his 
conversion, ' preechide fast, and axide noo leve of Petir herto, 
for he hadde leve of Jesus Crist.' 

"From this time forth Wyclif began to circulate on the 
sacraments, and especially on the Eucharist, opinions that 
Oxford even was unable to tolerate; the University con- 
demned them. Conformably to his own theory, which 
tended, as did that of the Commons, towards a royal suprem- 
acy, Wyclif appealed not to the Pope but to the king, and 
in the meantime refused to submit. This was carrying bold- 
ness very far. John of Gaunt separates from his protege ; 
Courtenay, bishop of London, calls together a Council, which 
condemns Wyclif and his adherents (1382); the followers 
are pursued, and retract or exile themselves; but Wyclif 
continues to live in perfect quiet. Settled at Lutterworth, 
from whence he now rarely stirred, he wrote more than 
ever, with a more and more caustic and daring pen. The 
papal schism, which had begun in 1378, had cast discredit 
on the Holy See; Wyclif 's work was made the easier by it. 
At last Urban VI., the Pope whom England recognized, 



194 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

summoned him to appear in his presence, but an attack of 
paralysis came on, and Wyclif died in his parish on the last 
day of the year 1384. . . . By order of the Council of 
Constance, his ashes were afterwards thrown to the winds, 
and the family of the Wyclifs of Wyclif, firmly attached 
to the old faith, erased him from their genealogical tree." — 
T. J. Jusserand, "A Literary History of the English 
People." 



WYCLIFS SHORT RULE OF LIFE. 

FOR EACH MAN IN GENERAL, AND FOR PRIESTS, AND LORDS, AND 
LABOURERS, IN PARTICULAR, HOW EACH SHALL BE SAVED IN 
HIS DEGREE. 

First, When thou risest, or fully wakest, think upon 
the goodness of thy God ; how for his own goodness, and 
not for any need, he made all things out of nothing, both 
angels and men, and all other creatures, good in their 
kind. 

The second time, think on the great sufferings, and 
willing death that Christ suffered for mankind. When 
no man might make satisfaction for the guilt of Adam 
and Eve, and others more, neither any angel might make 
satisfaction therefore, then Christ, of his endless charity, 
suffered such great passion and painful death that no 
creature could suffer so much. 

Think the third time, how God hath saved thee from 
death and other mischief, and suffered many thousands to 
be lost that night, some in water, some in fire, and some 
by sudden death ; and some to be damned without end. 
And for this goodness and mercy thank thy God with all 
thine heart. And pray him to give thee grace to spend 
in that day, and evermore, all the powers of thy soul, as 
mind, understanding, reason, and will ; and all the pow- 
ers of thy body, as strength, beauty, and thy five senses, 






WYCLIF 105 

in his service and worship, and in nothing against his 
commandments ; but in ready performance of his works 
of mercy, and to give good example of holy life, both in 
word and deed, to all men about thee. 

Look afterward that thou be well occupied, and no time 
idle, for the danger of temptation. Take meat and drink 
in measure, not too costly nor too lickerous, and be not 
too curious thereabout. But such as God sendeth thee 
with health, take it in such measure that thou be fresher 
in mind and understanding to serve God. And always 
thank him for such gifts. Besides this, look thou do 
right and equity to all men, thy superiors, equals, and 
subjects or servants ; and stir all to love truth, and mercy, 
and true peace, and charity ; and suffer no men to be at 
dissension, but accord them if thou canst in any good 
manner. 

Also, most of all fear God and his wrath ; and most of 
all love God and his law, and his worship ; and ask not 
principally for worldly reward, but in all thine Heart de- 
sire the bliss of heaven in mercy of God, and thine own 
good life ; and think much of the dreadful doom of pains 
of hell, to keep thee out of sin ; and on the endless great 
joys of heaven, to keep thee in virtuous life ; and accord- 
ing to thy skill teach others the same doing. 

In the end of the day think wherein thou hast offended 
God, and how much and how oft, and therefore have en- 
tire sorrow, and amend it while thou mayest. And 
think how many God hath suffered to perish that day, 
many ways, and to be damned everlastingly, and how 
graciously he hath saved thee ; not for thy desert, but for 
his own mercy and goodness, and therefore thank him with 
all thine heart. And pray him for grace that thou mayest 
dwell and end in his true and holy service and real love, 
and to teach other men the same doing. 



196 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

If thou art a Priest, and especially a curate, live thou 
holily, surpassing other men in holy prayer, desire, and 
thinking, in holy speaking, counselling, and true teaching. 
And that God's commands, his gospel, and virtues, be 
ever in thy mouth; and ever despise sin to draw men 
therefrom; and that thy deeds be so rightful that no man 
shall blame them with reason, but that thy open deeds be 
a true book to all subjects and unlearned men, to serve 
God and do his commands thereby. For example of good 
life, open and lasting, more stirreth rude men than true 
preaching by word only. And waste not thy goods in 
great feasts of rich men, but live a humble life, of poor 
men's alms and goods, both in meat, and drink, and 
clothes, and the remainder give truly to poor men that 
have not of their own, and may not labour for feebleness 
or sickness, and thus thou shalt be a true priest both to 
God and man. 

If thou art a Lord, look that thou live a rightful life 
in thine own person, both in respect to God and man, 
keeping the commands of God, doing the works of mercy, 
ruling well thy five senses, and doing reason and equity, 
and good conscience to all men. In the second place, 
govern well thy wife, thy children, and thy household 
attendants in God's law, and suffer no sin among them, 
neither in word nor in deed, that they may be examples of 
holiness and righteousness to all others ; for thou shalt be 
condemned for their evil life and their evil example, unless 
thou amend it according to thy might. In the third place, 
govern well thy tenants, and maintain them in right and 
reason, and be merciful to them in their rents and worldly 
mercements, and suffer not thine officers to do them wrong 
nor be extortionate to them. And chastise in good man- 
ner them that are rebels against God's commands and 
virtuous life, more than for rebellion against thine own 



WYCLIF 197 

cause ; or else for that thou lovest more thine own cause 
than God's, and thyself more than God Almighty, thou 
wert then a false traitor to God. And love, reward, 
praise, and cherish the true and virtuous of life more than 
if thou sought only thine own profit. And reverence and 
maintain truly, according to thy skill and might, God's 
law and true preachers thereof, and God's servants, in 
rest and peace. For thereby thou holdest the lordship of 
God, and if thou failest of this thou misdoest against God, 
and all thy lordship, in body and in soul. And principally 
if thou maintainest antichrist's disciples in their errors 
against Christ's life and his teaching, for blindness, covet- 
ousness, and worldly friendship ; and helpest to slander 
and pursue true men that teach Christ's gospel and his 
life, and warn the people of their great sins, and of false 
prophets and hypocrites that deceive Christian men in 
faith, virtuous life, and worldly goods. 

If thou art a Labourer, live in meekness, and truly 
and willingly do thy labour, that thy lord or thy master 
if he be a heathen man, by thy meekness, willing and true 
service, may not have to grudge against thee, nor slander 
thy God, nor thy Christian profession ; but rather be 
stirred to come to Christianity. And serve not Christian 
lords with grudgings ; not only in their presence, but 
truly and willingly, and in absence. Not only for worldly 
dread, or worldly reward, but for dread of God and con- 
science, and for reward in heaven. For God that putteth 
thee in such service knoweth what state is best for thee, 
and will reward thee more than all earthly lords may, if 
thou dost it truly and willingly for his ordinance. And 
in all things beware @f grudging against God and his visi- 
tation, in great labour, and long or great sickness, and 
other adversities. And beware of wrath, of cursing, of 
speaking evil, of banning man or beast ; and ever keep 



198 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

patience, meekness, and charity, both to God and man. 
And thus each man in the three states ought to live, to 
save himself, and to help others ; and thus should good 
life, rest, peace, and love, be among Christian men, and 
they be saved, and heathen men soon converted, and God 
magnified greatly in all nations and sects that now despise 
him and his law, for the false living of wicked Christian 
men. 



WILLIAM DE LA POLE 

(A. D. 1450.) 

William de la Pole, Earl and afterwards Duke o£ Suf- 
folk, was the chief counsellor and minister, for a time, of 
the unfortunate King Henry VI., of England. He negoti- 
ated the marriage of the young king to Margaret of Anjou, 
with the hope that it might be influential in bringing about 
peace with France. The marriage was hateful to English 
feeling, and seems to have started against Suffolk the host 
of enemies by whom he was soon pursued. But the time 
was one of fierce and selfish factions, when no special pro- 
vocation was needed for savage hostility to an influential 
public man. How far, if at all, Suffolk deserved the hatred 
with which he was hunted to death is not likely to be ever 
made clear. After five or six years of supremacy in the 
king's councils, he was impeached in Parliament and ordered 
into banishment by Henry (1450). Escaping with difficulty 
from a furious London mob, he got on board a ship sailing 
to Flanders; but was pursued by assassins, overtaken and 
murdered at sea. 

This bare story of his career does not greatly recommend 
William de la Pole to our confidence; but one can hardly 
read the subjoined letter of admonition, which he wrote to 
his son a short time before he came to his tragical end, with- 
out wishing that his memory might be cleared of all the 
doubts that rest upon it. The epistle appears (No. 26) in 
Fenn's edition of the Paston Letters. His wife, of whom 
he speaks so lovingly to their son, was a grand- daughter of 
Chaucer, the poet. 



200 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

LETTER OF THE DUKE OF SUFFOLK TO HIS SON. 

(From the Paston Letters.) 

My dear and only well-beloved son, I beseech our Lord 
in Heaven, the Maker of all the World, to bless you, and 
to send you ever grace to love him, and to dread him, to 
the which, as far as a father may charge his child, I both 
charge you, and pray you to set all your spirits and wits 
to do, and to know his holy laws and commandments, by 
the which ye shall, with his great mercy, pass all the 
great tempests and troubles of this wretched world. 

And that also, weetingly, ye do nothing for love nor 
dread of any earthly creature that should displease him. 
And there as . (whenever) any frailty maketh you to fall, 
beseech his mercy soon to call you to him again with 
repentance, satisfaction, and contrition of your heart, 
never more in will to offend him. 

Secondly, next him above all earthly things, to be 
true liegeman in heart, in will, in thought, in deed, unto 
the king our aldermost (greatest) high and dread sover- 
eign lord, to whom both ye and I be so much bound to ; 
charging you as father can and may, rather to die than to 
be the contrary, or to know anything that were against 
the welfare or prosperity of his most royal person, but 
that as far as your body and life may stretch ye live and 
die to defend it, and to let his highness have knowledge 
thereof in all the haste ye can. 

Thirdly, in the same wise, I charge you, my dear son, 
alway as ye be bounden by the commandment of God to 
do, to love, to worship, your lady and mother ; and also 
that ye obey alway her commandments, and to believe her 
counsels and advices in all your works, the which dread 
not but shall be best and truest to you. And if any other 



WILLIAM DE LA POLE 201 

body would steer you to the contrary, to flee the counsel 
in any wise, for ye shall find it naught and evil. 

Furthermore, as far as father may and can, I charge 
you in any wise to flee the company and counsel of proud 
men, of covetous men, and of flattering men, the more 
especially and mightily to withstand them, and not to 
draw nor to meddle with them, with all your might and 
power ; and to draw to you and to your company good 
and virtuous men, and such as be of good conversation, 
and of truth, and by them shall ye never be deceived nor 
repent you of. 

Moreover, never follow your own wit in nowise, but in 
all your works, of such folks as I write of above, ask your 
advice and counsel, and doing thus, with the mercy of 
God, ye shall do right well, and live in right much worship, 
and great heart's rest and ease. 

And 1 will be to you as good lord and father as my 
heart can think. 

And last of all, as heartily and as lovingly as ever 
father blessed his child in earth, I give you the blessing of 
Our Lord and of me, which of his infinite mercy increase 
you in all virtue and good living ; and that your blood 
may by his grace from kindred to kindred multiply in 
this earth to his service, in such wise as after the departing 
from this wretched world here, ye and they may glorify 
him eternally amongst his angels in heaven. 

Written of mine hand, 

The day of my departing fro this land. 
Your true and loving father, 

Suffolk. 

April, 1450, 28 H. VI. 



THOMAS A KEMPIS 

(A. D. 1380-1471.) 

Thomas Hamerken, known to fame as Thomas a Kempis, 
the reputed author of the "Imitation of Christ," was born 
at Kempen near Cologne, in 1380, entered the Augustinian 
monastery of Mt. St. Agnes, near Zwolle, in 1400, was 
ordained a priest in 1413, and was elected sub-prior in 1425. 
He died in 1471. He wrote a number of books; but his 
name is immortally associated with the " Imitation of Christ, " 
which is believed to have had more readers than any other 
book in Christian literature except the Bible. That Thomas 
a Kempis was the author is not certain ; but opinion among 
those who have investigated the question inclines in his favor. 

The "Imitation of Christ " is so purely religious that its 
teachings do not come within the scope of this collection. 
The subjoined precepts are selected from an English transla- 
tion of other writings, published a few years ago under the 
title of "The Little Garden of Roses." 

SELECTIONS FROM « THE LITTLE GARDEN OF ROSES." 

Every virtue has its particular sweetness to refresh him 
that worketh well ; but he that clings to vice begets an 
evil end, makes shipwreck of his honour, destroys repose, 
lays up for himself a store of infirmities, increases sorrow, 
and deprives himself of the relish of what is good and 
virtuous ; but he that denies himself lawful pleasures, 
increases the surety of resisting such as are unlawful. 

He that muzzles the mouth of the hound need not fear 
his bark; so he that keeps strict silence shall not offend 
with his lips. 

He that lives retired and in silence is far removed from 



THOMAS A KEMPIS 203 

falsehood and bickering ; from cursing and detraction ; 
from anger and murmuring. 

He that hearkens not to evil discourse, and shuts his 
eyes on the vanities of this world, more easily avoids its 
snares, and turns away his thoughts from its vain imagina- 
tions; for a watch over the senses is the foundation of 
purity, the discipline of peace, the mirror of devotion. 

When wrath takes possession of the breast wisdom 
takes to flight even from the wise. He that speaks hastily 
is like a snarling hound ; but a meek answer breaks the 
violence of wrath, and gives to the afflicted roses in the 
stead of thorns. 

Blessed is the prudent tongue, for it heals the wounds 
of the hasty. 

He that resisteth his evil inclinations in their birth, 
when they show themselves but young and limber, shall 
more easily destroy them than when their roots are deep. 

He that preserves purity in soul and body is like God's 
angels; but he that yields to his evil inclinations, and 
takes pleasure in the depravity of his thoughts, is the 
bond-slave of Satan. 

Publish not scandal, for it is well to be silent ; proclaim 
the truth, for it is salutary ; be modest, for it is reason- 
able ; hurt no one, for it is just ; be useful to all, for such 
is piety ; and edify thy neighbour by word and deed, for 
such is religion. 

The prudent man thinks before he acts ; changes not 
unreasonably ; speaks with reserve of what he is ignorant 
of ; and affirms not lightly what is doubtful. 

Look carefully into your own faults, and you will find 
little leisure or inclination to weigh in the balance the 
actions of others. 

Be faithful in little things, and your talent shall be 
vastly increased in the kingdom of heaven. 



204 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Be neither idle in solitude, nor a babbler in public, and 
the evil one, overcome by your diligence and silence, shall 
depart from you. 

Trample pride under foot, and you shall find much. 






HUGH RHODES'S " BOKE OF NURTURE" 

(A. D. 1577.) 

A curious collection of mediaeval writings, which illustrate 
the ideas of nurture and training for children that prevailed 
in England during the latter part of the Middle Ages, was 
made for the Early English Text Society by Mr. Frederick 
J. Furnivall, the eminent student of early English literature, 
and published in 1868. The injunctions, rules and precepts 
of the collection relate mainly to manners, and more to table- 
manners than to behavior in other circumstances and places, 
— so much so that "Manners and Meals in Olden Time " is 
a general title given to the volume by Mr. Furnivall. Its 
principal contents are "The 4 Babees Book, or How young 
people should behave, " from a MS. of about 1475; "Stans 
Puer ad Mensam " (already referred to) ; Hugh Rhodes 's 
"Boke of Nurture;" John Russell's "Boke of Nurture;" 
Wynkyn de Worde's "Boke of Seruyce and Keruynge [Carv- 
ing] and Sewynge, " and several other "bokes of curtasye " 
and "bokes of demeanor." The injunctions most distinctly 
moral are in the following series, entitled "The Rule of 
Honest Living," found in the fifth edition of Rhodes's "Boke 
of Nurture, " published in 1577, — the first edition having 
been printed in 1554. Of the first edition of this "boke " 
Mr. Furnivall knew of but one copy existing when he wrote 
of it; of the fifth edition he mentions two, in the British 
Museum and the Bodleian Library. Of Hugh Rhodes it is 
known, only, that he was "of the king's chapel" and that 
he was born and bred in Devonshire. 



206 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



THE RULE OF HONEST LIVING. 

(From Publications of the Early English Text Society, No. 32, 

p. 105.) 

If thou desyre temperance, cut away all superfluitye, 
and brydle in thy desyres within thy niynde ; consyder to 
thy selfe what nature req[u]yreth, and not what sensuall 
concupiscence appeteth. 

Put a brydle & a measure to thy concupiscence, & cast 
away the things that draw thy mynde with secrete plea- 
sure. 

Eate without surfet. 

Drinke without dronkennesse. 

Let thy lyuing be of light repaste ; come not for wan- 
ton pleasure, but for desyre of meate ; let hunger moue 
thy appetyte and not sauery sauces. 

Think that all thing may be sufrred but villany and dis- 
honesty ; abstayn euer from wordes of rybaudry, for a 
tongue euer lyberall nourisheth folly. 

Loue rather wordes profytable than eloquent and ple- 
saunte, right wordes then flattering. 

Thou shalt sometyme mixe with sadnesse thy merry 
iestes, but temperately, and without hurt of thy dignitye 
and honesty ; for laughing is reproueable if it be out of 
measure ; if lyke a chylde, it is effuse and wanton ; if lyke 
a woman, foolish. 

If thou be a continent man, auoyde flattery, & let it be 
as paynefull to thee to be praysed of lewd and inhonest 
persons, as if thou be praysed for lewd and inhonest 
deedes. 

Be more ioyous and glad when thou displeasest euill 
persons ; and take the euill iudgements of them touching 
thee, as a true prayse of thee. 



HUGH RHODES'S "BOKE OF NURTURE" 207 

It is a very hard work of continence to repell the paynt- 
ing glose of flatterings whose words resolue the hart with 
plesure. 

Alure not the loue of any man by flattery, nor set not 
open the waye by that meane to get thee loue and friend- 
ship ; thou shalte not be mad hardye, nor presumptyous ; 
submit thy selfe and stoope not to low, but keepe a meane 
grauity. 

Be aduertised with goodwil, and take rebuke paciently. 

If any man chyde thee with cause, be thou assured that 
he doeth profyte thee. If so be without thanke, that hee 
wylleth thy profyte. 

Thou shalte not feare sharp words, but dread fayre 
wordes. 

If thou be a continent man, regard the moouinges and 
afflictions of thy soule and body, that they be not out of 
order ; nor therfore doe not set lighte by them, because 
they be vnknown, for it forceth not if no man see them, 
whan thou thy selfe seest them. 

Be actiue and styrring, but not of light fashyon, con- 
stant, but not obstynate : let it not be vnknown nor gre- 
uous to thee thou hast not knowledge of any thing. 

Cherish al that be thy Peeres ; disdayne not thy infe- 
ryours by pryde ; cast not away thy superiours that Hues 
vpright. 

In requyting a good tourne, shew not thy selfe negli- 
gent, nor contrarye : bee not an exactour of another man. 

Be lyberall to euery man. 

To no man flattering. 

Familier but to few. 

Equall to all men. 

Be not light of credens to new raysed tales, nor crymes, 
nor suspicious to maligne no man. 

Slack and slow to vre. 



208 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Prone, inclyned to mercy. 

Stable in aclnersytye. 

And liider of vertue, as other be of vice. 

Be a dyspyser of vayne glorye, and no busy bragger of 
the vertues with the which thou art indued. 

Despyse no man's follye and ignoraunce : be thou of 
fewe wordes, but suffer other to speake. 

Be sharpe, but not cruell, nor despyse him that is 
merry. 

Be desyrous of wysedome, and apte to learne it. 

Men learne when they teache. 

Be content to departe to a man wylling to learne suche 
thinges as thou knowest, without arrogance and pride. 

Desyre to haue knowledge of suche thinges which thou 
knowest not, wythout concealement of thy ignoraunce. 

He that spendeth much 

and getteth nought, 
He that oweth much 

and hath nought, 
He that looketh in his purse 

and fyndeth nought, 
He may be sorry 

and say nought. 

He that may and will not, 
He then that would shall not, 
He that would and cannot, 
May repent and sighe not. 

He that sweareth 
. tyll no man trust him, 

He that lyeth 

tyll no man beleue him, 



HUGH RHODES'S "BOKE OF NURTURE" 209 

He that boroweth 

tyll no man will lende him, 
Let him go where no 

man knoweth him. 

He that hath a good Mayster 

and cannot keepe him, 
He that hath a good seruaunt 

and not content with hym, 
He that hath such condicions 

that no man loueth hym, 
May well know other, 

but few men wyll knowe hym. 

Thus endeth the Booke of Nurture or gouer- 
naunce of Youth, with Stans Puer 
ad mensam. Compyled by 
Hugh Rhodes of the 
Kinges Chap- 
pell. 



J 



ERASMUS 

(A. D. 1465 (?) -1536.) 

the most accomplished scholar and admired 
writer of the Reformation, was the son of parents whose sad 
story has been charmingly told, with close fidelity to fact, by 
Charles Reade, in his romance entitled "The Cloister and the 
Hearth." His father, Gerard, and his mother, Margaret, 
were betrothed by a solemn ceremony which they looked upon 
as marriage. The malice of some evil-disposed persons drove 
Gerard, soon afterwards, from his home (near Rotterdam, 
in Holland), to seek fortune, as an artist, elsewhere. He 
made his way to Rome, and prospered so well that he ex- 
pected to return soon to his betrothed — to his wife, as she 
was in his thoughts. Then a letter came to him, forged by 
the same malice that had driven him abroad — announcing 
her death. In his grief he entered a monastery and took the 
irrevocable vows which made marriage forever impossible to 
him. Years afterwards, he returned to Holland and found 
Margaret living, faithful to his memory, and faithfully rear- 
ing a son who had been born to them. That son, thus born 
out of wedlock, was known in youth as Geert Geerts, or 
Gerhard Gerhards, — that is, Geert's or Gerhard's son; but 
he afterwards assumed a name composed of the Latin and 
Greek equivalents of Gerhard, or Gerard — Desiderius Eras- 
mus. 

The birth of Erasmus occurred between 1465 and 1467 — 
the year is uncertain. He became an orphan in 1478, with 
some property, of which his guardians sought to defraud him. 
Their efforts were successful in forcing him to enter a monas- 
tery, though he shrank from the monastic life. Study was 
his delight, but the Church did not attract him. Though he 
became a priest in 1492, he does not seem to have ever per- 
formed priestly duties. He succeeded in living mostly the 
life of a scholar and teacher. In 1506 he obtained from the 



ERASMUS 211 

pope a dispensation from his monastic dress, and ten years 
later he was absolved from his vows. He travelled much, 
and resided in several countries, staying two years in Eng- 
land, where he acquired the friendship of Sir Thomas More 
and others, among the choicer spirits of the time. His death 
occurred in Switzerland, in 1536. 

Erasmus was one of the most effective assailants of the 
corruption in the Roman Church, and his writings did much 
to promote the movement of the Reformation; but he had 
little interest in doctrinal disputes, and was never heartily 
enlisted under the Lutheran banners. 

The most celebrated of the writings of Erasmus were his 
"Colloquies," from an English translation of which the sub- 
joined passages are taken, and his "Praise of Folly." From 
his published "Letters, " Mr. Froude, the historian, has 
gleaned a most interesting book. 

THE OLD MEN'S DIALOGUE. 
(From " The Colloquies of Erasmus," translated by N. Bailey.) 

[One of the colloquies of Erasmus is between five old 
men who had been students together at Paris in their 
youth, and who meet in a coach after forty-two years of 
separation. One of the number, Glycion, is observed to 
show much less appearance of age than his companions, 
and they beg him to tell them how he has been able to 
preserve himself so much from the common marks of time. 
The account he then gives of the manner in which his life 
has been ruled may be supposed to embody the counsels 
that Erasmus wished to give. 

After telling of his marriage, in which he made his 
choice " with judgment first, and then loved afterwards," 
and of his employment, which he carefully selected, Gly- 
cion proceeds as follows : — ] 

Gl. Envy always is a Concomitant of a pompous 
Felicity, but a Mediocrity is safe ; this was always my 
Study, not to make any Advantage to myself from the 



212 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Disadvantages of other People. I embraced as much as 
I could, that which the Greeks call Freedom from the 
Encumbrance of Business. I intermeddled with no one's 
affairs ; but especially I kept myself clear from those 
that could not be meddled with without gaining the ill 
Will of a great many. If a Friend wants my Assistance, 
I so serve him, as thereby not to procure any Enemies to 
myself. In Case of any Misunderstanding between me 
and any Persons, I endeavour to soften it by clearing 
myself of Suspicion, or to set all right again by good 
Offices, or to let it die without taking Notice of it : I 
always avoid Contention, but if it shall happen, I had 
rather lose my Money than my Friend. Upon the Whole, 
I act the part of Mitio in the Comedy, I affront no Man, 
I carry a chearful Countenance to all, I salute and re- 
salute affably, I find no Fault with what any Man pur- 
poses to do or does, I don't prefer myself before other 
People ; I let every one enjoy his Opinion ; what I would 
have kept as a Secret, I tell to no Body: I never am 
curious to pry in the Privacies of other Men. If I 
happen to come to the Knowledge of any thing, I never 
blab it. As for absent Persons, I either say nothing at 
all of them, or speak of them with Kindness and Civility. 
Great Part of the Quarrels that arise between Men, come 
from the Intemperance of the Tongue. I never breed 
Quarrels or heighten them; but where-ever Opportunity 
happens, I either moderate them, or put an End to them. 
By these Methods I have hitherto kept clear of Envy, 
and have maintained the Affections of my fellow Citizens. 

Pa. Did you not find a single Life irksome to you ? 

Gl. Nothing happened to me in the whole Course of 
my Life, more afflicting than the Death of my Wife, and 
I could have passionately wish'd that we might have 
grown old together, and might have enjoy'd the Comfort 



ERASMUS 213 

of the common Blessing, our Children : But since Provi- 
dence saw it meet it should be otherwise, I judged that 
it was best for us both, and therefore did not think there 
was Cause for me to afflict myself with Grief, that would 
do no good, neither to me nor the Deceased. 

Pol. What, had you never an Inclination to marry 
again, especially the first having been so happy a match 
to you ? 

Gl. I had an Inclination so to do, but as I married for 
the Sake of Children, so for the Sake of my Children I 
did not marry again. 

Pol. But 'tis a miserable Case to lie alone whole 
Nights without a Bedfellow. 

Gl. Nothing is hard to a willing Mind. And then do 
but consider the Benefits of a single Life : There are some 
People in the World, who will be for making the worst 
of every Thing ; such a one Crates seemed to be, or an 
Epigram under his Name, summing up the Evils of 
human Life. And the Resolution is this, that it is best 
not to be born at all. Now Metrodorus pleases me a 
great Deal better, who picks out what is good in it ; this 
makes Life the pleasanter. And I brought my Mind to 
that Temper of Indifference never to have a violent Aver- 
sion or Fondness for any thing. And by this it comes to 
pass, that if any good Fortune happens to me, I am not 
vainly transported, or grow insolent ; or if any thing falls 
out cross, I am not much perplex'd. 

Pa. Truly if you can do this, you are a greater Philo- 
sopher than Tholes himself. 

Gl. If any uneasiness in my Mind rises (as mortal 
Life produces many of them) I cast it immediately out of 
my Thoughts, whether it be from the Sense of an Affront 
offered, or any Thing done unhandsomely. 

Pol. Well, but there are some Provocations that would 



214 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

raise the Anger of the most patient Man alive : As the 
Sauciness of Servants frequently are. 

GL I suffer nothing to stay long enough in my Mind 
to make an Impression. If I can cure them I do it, if 
not, I reason thus with myself, What good will it do me 
to torment myself about that which will be never the 
better for it ? In short, I let Reason do that for me at 
first, which after a little While Time itself would do. 
And this I be sure take Care of, not to suffer any Vexa- 
tion, be it never so great, to go to Bed with me. 

Eu. No wonder that you don't grow old, who are of 
that Temper. 

GL Well, and that I may n't conceal any thing from 
Friends, in an especial Manner I have kept this Guard 
upon myself, never to commit any Thing that might be a 
Reflection either on my own Honour or that of my Chil- 
dren. For there is nothing more troublesome than a 
guilty Conscience. And if I have committed a Fault I 
don't go to Bed before I have reconcil'd myself to God. 
To be at Peace with God is the Fountain of true Tran- 
quillity of Mind, or, as the Greeks call it, evOvfxta. For 
they who live thus, Men can do them no great Injury. 

Eu. Have you never any anxious Thoughts upon the 
Apprehension of Death ? 

GL No more than I have for the Day of my Birth. 
I know I must die, and to live in the Fear of it may 
possibly shorten my Life, but to be sure it would never 
make it longer. So that I care for nothing else but to 
live piously and comfortably, and leave the rest to Provi- 
dence ; and a Man can't live happily that does not live 
piously. 

Pa. But I should grow old with the Tiresomeness 
of living so long in the same Place, tho' it were Rome 
itself. 



ERASMUS 215 

Gl. The changing of Place has indeed something of 
Pleasure in it ; but then, as for long Travels, tho' perhaps 
they may add to a Man's Experience, yet they are liable 
to a great many Dangers. I seem to myself to travel 
over the whole World in a Map, and can see more in 
Histories than if I had rambled through Sea and Land 
for Twenty Years together, as Ulysses did. I have a 
little Country-House about two Miles out of Town, and 
there sometimes, of a Citizen I become a Country-Man, 
and having recreated myself there, I return again to the 
City a new Comer, and salute and am welcom'd as if I 
had return'd from the new-found Islands. 

Eu. Don't you assist Nature with a little Physick ? 

Gl. I never was let Blood, or took Pills nor Potions 
in my Life yet. If I feel any Disorder coming upon me, 
I drive it away with spare Diet or the Country Air. 

Eu. Don't you study sometimes ? 

Gl. I do. In that is the greatest Pleasure of my Life : 
But I make a Diversion of it, but not a Toil. I study 
either for Pleasure or Profit of my Life, but not for 
Ostentation. After Meat I have a Collation of learned 
Stories, or else somebody to read to me, and I never sit 
to my Books above an Hour at a Time : Then I get up 
and take my Violin, and walk about in my Chamber, and 
sing to it, or else ruminate upon what I have read, or if 
I have a good Companion with me, I relate it, and after 
a While I return to my Book again. 

Eu. But tell me now, upon the Word of an honest 
Man ; Do you feel none of the Infirmities of old Age, 
which are said to be a great many. 

Gl. My Sleep is not so sound, nor my Memory so 
good, unless I fix anything deeply in it. Well, I have 
now acquitted myself of my Promise. I have laid open 
to you those magical Arts by which I have kept Myself 
young. 



216 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

[Manners are the subject of another of the Colloquies, in 
which a schoolmaster addresses admonitions to a boy : — ] 

THE SCHOOL-MASTER'S ADMONITIONS 

THE ARGUMENT. 

The School-master's Instructions teach a Boy Modesty, Civility, and 
Manners becoming his Age, in what Posture he ought to stand while he 
talks to his Superiors • concerning Habit, Discourse, and Behaviour 
at Table and in School. 

THE SCHOOL-MASTER AND BOY. 

Sch. You seem not to have been bred at Court but in 
a cow-stall ; you behave yourself so clownishly. A Gen- 
tleman ought to behave himself like a Gentleman. As 
often or whenever any one that is your Superior speaks 
to you, stand straight, pull off your Hat, and look neither 
doggedly, surlily, saucily, malapertly, nor unsettledly, but 
with a staid, modest, pleasant Air, in your Countenance, 
and a bashful Look fix'd upon the Person who speaks to 
you ; your Feet set close one by t'other ; your Hands with- 
out Action: Don't stand titter, totter, first standing upon 
one Foot, and then upon another, nor playing with your 
Fingers, biting your Lip, scratching your head, or pick- 
ing your Ears : Let your Cloaths be put on tight and 
neat, that your whole Dress, Air, Motion and Habit, may 
bespeak a modest and bashful Temper. 

Bo. What if I shall try, Sir ? 

Ma. Do so. 

Bo. Is this right ? 

Ma. Not quite. 

Bo. Must I do so ? 

Ma. That 's pretty well. 

Bo. Must I stand so ? 

Ma. Ay, that 's very well, remember that Posture ; 
don't be a Prittle prattle, nor Prate apace, nor be a mind- 



ERASMUS 217 

ing any Thing but what is said to you. If you are to 
make an Answer, do it in few Words, and to the Purpose, 
every now and then prefacing with some Title of Respect, 
and sometimes use a Title of Honour, and now and then 
make a Bow, especially when you have done speaking : 
Nor do you go away without asking Leave, or being bid 
to go : Now come let me see how you can practice this. 
How long have you been from Home ? 

Bo. Almost six months. 

Ma. You should have said, Sir. 

Bo. Almost six months, Sir. 

Ma. Don't you long to see your Mother ? 

Bo. Yes, sometimes. 

Ma. Have you a Mind to go to see her ? 

Bo. Yes, with your Leave, Sir. 

Ma. Now you should have made a Bow ; that 's very 
well, remember to do so ; when you speak, don't speak 
fast, stammer, or speak in your Throat, but use your self 
to pronounce your Words distinctly and clearly. If you 
pass by any ancient Person, a Magistrate, a Minister, or 
Doctor, or any Person of Figure, be sure to pull off your 
Hat, and make your Reverence : Do the same when you 
pass by any sacred Place, or the Image of the Cross. 
When you are at a Feast, behave yourself chearfully, but 
always so as to remember what becomes your Age : Serve 
yourself last ; and if any nice Bit be offer'd you, refuse it 
modestly ; but if they press it upon you, take it, and 
thank the Person, and cutting off a Bit of it, offer the 
rest either to him that gave it you, or to him that sits 
next to you. If any Body drinks to you merrily, thank 
him, and drink moderately. If you don't care to drink, 
however, kiss the Cup. Look pleasantly upon him that 
speaks to you, and be sure not to speak till you are 
spoken to. If any Thing that is obscene be said, don't 



218 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

laugh at it, but keep your countenance, as though you did 
not understand it ; don't reflect on any Body, nor take 
place of any Body, nor boast of any Thing of your own, 
nor undervalue any Thing of another Bodies. Be courte- 
ous to your Companions that are your Inferiors ; traduce 
no Body ; don't be a Blab with your Tongue, and by this 
means you '11 get a good Character, and gain Friends 
without Envy. If the Entertainment shall be long, desire 
to be excus'd, bid much good may it do the Guests, and 
withdraw from the Table : See that you remember these 
Things. 

Bo. I '11 do my Endeavour, Sir. Is there any Thing 
else you 'd have me do ? 

Ma. Now go to your Books. 

Bo. Yes, Sir. 



KOGER ASCHAM 

(A. D. 1515-1568.) 

Roger Ascham, the accomplished scholar and teacher of 
Tudor times in England, tutor of Lady Jane Grey and of 
the Princess, afterwards Queen, Elizabeth, and author of 
"The Scholemaster, " gave, in writing, some excellent advice 
to his brother-in-law (who was evidently a youth) when the 
latter went into the service of the Earl of Warwick, in 1559. 
His admonitions are partly quoted from Whitaker's "History 
of Richmondshire " by Mr. Furnivall, in the collection of 
early "bokes of nurture," etc., described on page 205. The 
following is taken from the latter source : — 

ADVICE TO LORD WARWICK'S SERVANT. 

(From Publications of the Early English Text Society, No. 32, p. 360.) 

First and formost, in all your thoughts, words, and 
deeds, have before your eyes the feare of God; . . . love 
and serve your lord willingly, faithf ullye, and secretlye ; 
love and live with your fellowes honestly, quiettlye, curte- 
ouslye, that noe man have cause either to hate yow for 
your stubborne frowardnes, or to malice yow for your 
proud ungentleness, two faults which commonly yonge 
men soones[t] fall into in great men's service. Contemne 
noe poore man, mocke noe simple man, which, proud fooles 
in cort like and love to doe ; find fault with your selfe and 
with none other, the best waye to live honestlye and qui- 
ettly in the court. Carrye noe tales, be no common teller 
of newes, be not inquisitive of other menn's talke, for those 
that are desirous to heare what they need not, commonly 
be readye to babble what they shold not. Vse not to lye, 



220 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

for that is vnhonest ; speake not everye truth, for that is 
vimeedfull ; yea, in tynie and place a harmlesse lye is a 
greate deale better than a hurtfull truth. Use not dyceing 
nor carding ; the more yow use them the lesse yow wilbe 
esteemed ; the cunninger yow be at them the worse man 
yow wilbe counted, for pastime, love and learne that 
which, your lord liketh and vseth most, whether itt be 
rydeing, shooteing, hunting, hawkeing, fishing, or any 
such exercise. Beware of secrett corners and night sitting 
vp, the two nurses of mischiefe, unthriftines, losse, and 
sicknes. Beware chiefely of ydlenes, the great pathway 
that leadeth directly to all evills ; be diligent alwayes, be 
present every where in your lord's service, be at hand to 
call others, and be not ofte sent for your selfe ; for marke 
this as part of your creed, that the good service of one 
whole yeare shall never gett soe much as the absence of 
one howre may lose, when your lord shall stand in need 
of yow to send, if yow consider alwayes that absence 
and negligence must needes be cause of greife and sor- 
rowe to your selfe, of chideing and rueing to your lord, 
and that dutye done diligently and presently shall gaine 
yow profitt, and purchase yow great praise and your lord's 
good countenance, yow shall ridd me of care, and wynne 
your selfe creditt, make me a gladd man, and your aged 
mother a ioyfull woman, and breed your friends great 
comforth. Soe I comitt and commend yow to God's mer- 
cifull proteccion and good guidance, who long preserve 
Your ever loving and affectionate brother in lawe. 

E. ASKAM. 
To my loveing Brother in Lawe, Mr. C. H., Servant to the Rt. 
Hon. the Earle of Warwick, these. 



MEXICAN CODE OF MORAL PRECEPTS 

(Sixteenth century.) 

Some forty years after the conquest of Mexico by Cortes, 
Judge Alonzo de Zurita, a Spanish official in the country, 
wrote a memoir on the natives, relating especially to their 
customs and laws, which is greatly esteemed. Among other 
things, he preserved some collections of rules of conduct, 
which he represents as being examples of instructions given 
by fathers to their sons, and mothers to their daughters. 
Two of these are quoted in Chevalier's "Mexico, Ancient and 
Modern," and as given below are taken from the English 
translation of that work (v. i. ch. 6). According to Zurita, 
they embody the advice of parents of the middle class — in- 
habitants of towns, tradesmen and artisans. "It is," says 
M. Chevalier, "at once a collection of moral precepts and an 
abridged code of what is called, in familiar language, ' polite 
manners for young people.' " 

Prescott, in the appendix to his "History of the Conquest 
of Mexico," gives a similar collection of precepts addressed 
by a mother to her daughter, translated from Sahagun's 
"Historia de Nueva Espana." 

A FATHER'S COUNSEL TO HIS SON. 
(From Chevalier's " Mexico, Ancient and Modern.") 

O my beloved son, created by the will of God, under 
the eyes of thy father and mother, and of thy relatives, 
like a chicken that leaves its shell and essays to fly, thou 
makest thy essay with difficulty. We know not till what 
time God will permit us to enjoy thee. Supplicate Him, 
my son, to protect thee, for He created thee ; He is thy 
Father ; He loves thee better than I. Address to Him 



222 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

thy wishes night and day ; let Him be the object of thy 
thoughts ; serve Him with love ; He will be merciful to 
thee, and will deliver thee from all danger. Respect the 
image of God, and whatever is connected with Him. Pray 
to Him devotedly; observe the religious festivals. He 
who offends God will die miserable, and it will be his own 
fault. 

Honour and salute old men. Console the poor and 
afflicted by thy words and thy good works. 

Revere, love, and serve thy father and mother ; obey 
them, for the son who does not so conduct himself will 
repent it. 

Love and honour all the world, and thou wilt live in 
peace. 

Imitate not the fools who respect neither father nor 
mother, and who, like the animals, listen to the counsel of 
no one. 

Be careful, my son, not to mock the old, the infirm, the 
maimed, or the sinner. Be not haughty towards them ; 
do not hate them, but humble thyself before the Lord, 
and tremble lest you be as unfortunate as they. 

Poison no one, for thou wilt wound God in his creature ; 
thy crime will be discovered, thou wilt suffer the punish- 
ment of it, and thou wilt die the same death. 

Be upright, polite, and cause pain to no one. 

Meddle not with affairs in which thou art not con- 
cerned, from the fear of displeasing and of being counted 
indiscreet. 

Injure no one. Eschew adultery and luxury : it is a 
base vice, which causes the ruin of him who gives himself 
up to it, and offends God. 

Set not bad examples. 

Be modest in thy discourse ; interrupt not people who 
are speaking; disturb them not; if they express them- 



MEXICAN CODE OF MORAL PRECEPTS 223 

selves badly, if they make mistakes, content thyself with 
not imitating them. Keep silence when it is not thy 
turn to speak ; and if a question is put to thee, reply with 
openness, without heat or falsehood. Interfere not with 
the interests of others, and men will pay respect to thy 
words. If thou keepest clear, my son, of carrying tales, 
of repeating jests, thou wilt keep clear of lying and of 
sowing discord, which is a source of confusion to him who 
does it. 

Be not a lounger on the pavement, haunt not the streets, 
lose not thy time in the markets or the baths, lest the 
demon tempt thee and make thee his victim. 

Be not affected or too studied in thy dress, for it is the 
mark of a little mind. 

In whatever place thou mayest be, let thy looks be 
modest ; make no grimaces ; indulge not in indecent ges- 
tures : thou wilt pass for a libertine, and such things are 
snares of the demon. Seize no one by the hand or the 
clothes, for it is the mark of an indiscreet mind. Pay 
attention, when thou walkest, not to stop the way of any 
one soever. 

If thou art begged to undertake a matter, and it be to 
tempt thee, civilly excuse thyself, though thou mightest 
get some advantage from it, and thou wilt be held a wise 
and prudent man. 

Enter not nor go out before thy superiors ; be careful 
not to take precedence of them ; always leave them the 
place of honour, and seek not to lift thyself above any 
one, unless thou art raised in rank, for thou wilt be looked 
upon as a rude fellow. Be modest ; humility merits the 
favour of God and the great. 

Be not in a hurry in eating or drinking ; and if thou 
art at table, offer to him who may present himself before 
thee, wanting to take part in thy repast ; thou shalt be 



224 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

recompensed for it. If thou eatest in company, let it be 
without eagerness or gluttony ; thou wilt pass for a greedy 
fellow. Take thy repasts with thy head bent down, and 
so as not to finish before the others, for fear of offending 
them. 

If a present be made thee, however small it may be, 
disdain it not, and think not thou deservest more, for thou 
wilt not gain thereby before God or man. 

Trust thyself entirely to the Lord ; 't is from Him that 
good will come to thee, and thou knowest not when thou 
mayest die. 

I take on myself to procure thee what is proper for 
thee ; bear and wait patiently. If thou wishest to marry, 
tell me ; and since thou art our child, undertake not to 
do it before speaking to us on the matter. 

Be neither gambler nor thief, for one of those faults is 
the occasion of the other, and it is disgraceful. If thou 
keepest clear of them, thou wilt not be evil spoken of in 
the public squares and markets. 

Take always the good part, O my son. Sow, and thou 
shalt reap ; thou wilt live by thy labour, and consequently 
thou wilt be satisfied, and cherished of thy parents. 

We live not in this world without much labour, we 
procure not easily what is necessary. I have had much 
trouble to rear thee, and yet I have never abandoned thee, 
and I have done nothing for which thou canst blush. 

If thou desirest to live in tranquillity, keep clear of evil- 
speaking, for evil-speaking occasions quarrels. 

Keep secret what thou hearest. Let it be learned from 
others rather than from thee ; and if thou canst not avoid 
telling it, speak frankly, without hiding anything, even 
though thou believest it were well to do so. 

Repeat not that of which thou hast been the witness. 
Be discreet, for to be a tattler is a mean vice, and if thou 



MEXICAN CODE OF MORAL PRECEPTS 225 

liest thou will certainly be punished. Keep silence ; no- 
thing is gained by talking. 

If thou art sent with a message to some one that re- 
ceives thee roughly, and speaks ill of him who sent thee, 
report not the reply given in bad temper, and let not what 
has been done to thee be known. If thou art asked how 
thou wast received, reply calmly, in mild words : conceal 
the ill words that were said to thee, for fear of irritating 
both parties, that there may be neither bloodshed nor loss 
of life, and that thou mayest not later have to say in sad- 
ness, " All, if I had never said it ! " But it will be too 
late, and thou wilt pass for a mischief-maker and be with- 
out excuse. 

Have no relations with the wife of another ; live 
chastely, for we exist not twice in this world. Life is 
short and difficult, and everything has an end. 

Offend no person nor attack his honour. Make thyself 
worthy of the rewards God giveth to everyone as it pleases 
Him ; receive what He shall give thee ; return thanks, and 
if it be much, be not puffed up. Humble thyself ; thy 
merit will be the greater, and others will have no occasion 
to murmur ; but, on the contrary, if thou attributest to 
thyself what does not belong to thee, thou wilt meet with 
affronts and wilt offend God. 

When thou art spoken to, keep thy hands and thy feet 
still, look not to the left or right ; avoid rising, or sitting 
down if thou art standing ; thou wilt pass for a giddy-pate 
or a clown. 

If thou art in the service of any one, take care with 
zeal to render thyself useful, and to be agreeable to him ; 
thou wilt not want necessaries, and thou wilt be every- 
where well treated ; if thou dost the contrary, thou wilt 
not be able to remain with any one. 

My son, if thou refusest to hearken to the counsels of 



226 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

thy father, thou wilt come to a bad end, and it will be 
thy own fault. 

Be not proud of what God has given thee, and despise 
not others ; thou wilt offend the Lord, who hast placed 
thee in an honourable position. 

If thou art what thou shouldst be, thou wilt be quoted 
to others as a model, when it is wished they should correct 
themselves. 

These, O my son, are the counsels given thee by a 
father who loves thee ; observe them, and it will be well 
with thee. 

A MOTHER'S COUNSEL TO HER DAUGHTER. 

My daughter, I brought thee into the world, I have 
nourished and reared thee as thou shouldst be, the honour 
of thy father has reflected on thee. If thou dost not thy 
duty, thou wilt not be admitted to live with virtuous 
women, and no man will desire to make thee his wife. 

There is no living in this world without a great deal of 
pain and labour ; our strength exhausts itself ; we must 
therefore serve God, that He may aid us, sustain us, and 
grant us health. We must be active and careful, that 
we may obtain what is necessary. 

My beloved daughter, shun idleness and negligence ; be 
neat and industrious ; take pains with thine apartment, 
let order reign there, that everything may be in its place ; 
thus thou wilt learn to do thy duty when thou art mar- 
ried. 

Wherever thou mayest be, respect modesty. Walk not 
too fast, neither laughing nor looking hither and thither 
at the men that pass near thee ; look only to thy path : 
thus thou wilt gain the reputation of an honest woman. 

Take care to be polite, and to speak properly ; and 
when a question is asked thee, let thy answer be short and 
clear. 



MEXICAN CODE OF MORAL PRECEPTS 227 

Take care of thine household, make cloth, work ; thou 
wilt be loved, thou wilt deserve to have necessaries to feed 
and clothe thee, thou wilt be happy, and thou wilt thank 
God for having given thee the needful talent. 

Give not thyself to slumber or sloth ; love not to linger 
in bed, or in the shade, or in the open air, for thou wilt 
become heedless and libertine, and thou wilt be incapaci- 
tated for living in honour and propriety. Women who 
yield themselves to libertinism are neither sought after 
nor loved. 

Be thou sitting or standing, walking or working, let 
thy thoughts and actions, my daughter, be always praise- 
worthy. Fulfil thy duty, so as to obey God and thy par- 
ents. 

Allow not thyself to be called twice ; come forthwith to 
see what is wanted, so that there may not be the grief of 
punishing thine idleness and disobedience. 

Listen attentively to the orders given thee, and answer 
not amiss. If thou canst not do what is ordered of thee 
consistently with honour, excuse thyself civilly ; but lie 
not and deceive no one, for God seeth thee. 

If thou hearest another called, and she comes not di- 
rectly, hasten and see what is wanted ; do that which it 
was wished she should do, and thou wilt be loved. 

If good advice be given thee, profit by it ; do not de- 
spise it, for fear of being disesteemed. 

Let thy gait be neither too hurried nor immodest ; 
thou wilt pass for a light woman. 

Be charitable ; have hatred and contempt for no one ; 
shun avarice, take nothing in bad part, and be not jealous 
of what the good God granteth to others. 

Do no wrong to another, for fear it be done unto thee ; 
avoid evil ; follow not the likings of thy heart ; thou may- 
est be deceived and fall into vice, and thou wilt bring 
disgrace on thyself and on thy parents. 



228 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Shun the society of liars, idlers, gossips, and women of 
bad manners ; they will ruin thee. 

Busy thyself with thy household ; go not abroad to 
divert thyself; lose not thy time in the market, in the 
squares and public baths. It is exceedingly evil, and 
thus females are lost and ruined, and become vicious, for 
so bad thoughts are nourished. 

When a man seeks to address his speech to thee, 
hearken not to him, look not at him ; keep silence, and 
pay no attention to him ; if he follow thee, answer him 
not, lest thy words do but increase his passion. If thou 
pay no attention to him, he will cease to follow thee. 

Enter not other's houses, so as to avoid being the sub- 
ject of their idle talk. 

If thou go to see thy parents, pay them thy respects ; 
be not idle, take part in the work that is going on, if thou 
be able, and remain not to look at those who are working. 

If thy parents choose thee a husband, thou must love 
him, listen to him', obey him, do with pleasure what he 
tells thee ; turn not away the head when he speaks to 
thee ; and if he says to thee anything disagreeable, en- 
deavour to get over thy vexation. If he live on thy pro- 
perty, despise him not for that. Be neither sullen nor 
uncivil, for thou wilt offend God, and thy husband will be 
irritated against thee ; tell him quietly what thou thinkest 
the proper course. Address him not in offensive terms 
before others, nor even when alone, for it is thou that 
wilt bear the shame and contempt. 

If any one come to pay a visit to thy husband, receive 
him well and show him friendship. 

Should thy husband not conduct himself properly, give 
him advice as to his manner of behaviour, and bid him 
take care of his household. 

Be attentive to the labour on thy land ; take care of 
the crop and neglect nothing. 



MEXICAN CODE OF MORAL PRECEPTS 229 

Be not prodigal of thy property, aid thy husband in his 
labour ; by so doing thou wilt not want necessaries, and 
thou wilt provide for the education of thy children. 

My daughter, if thou follow my advice, thou wilt be 
loved and esteemed of all. In giving it to thee, I fulfil 
my duty as a mother ; in following it, thou wilt live 
happy. If it be otherwise it will be thy fault ; thou wilt 
see hereafter what will happen to thee from not having 
hearkened to me, and no one will be able to say that I 
have neglected to give thee counsels that, as a mother, I 
ought to have done. 



SIR THOMAS WYATT 

(A. D. 1503-1542.) 

The earliest of the poets belonging distinctly to the Eliza- 
bethan age was Sir Thomas Wyatt, whose poems are usually 
associated with those of his younger friend, Lord Henry 
Howard, Earl of Surrey. Wyatt was the son of Sir Henry 
Wyatt, of Allington, Kent; he was born at Allington Castle 
in 1503, and died in 1542. He was a gentleman of many 
accomplishments ; a favorite at the court of Henry VIII. ; 
and was employed by the king on several diplomatic missions 
of importance. He married the daughter of Lord Cobham, 
by whom he had a son, also named Thomas, who subsequently 
perished on the scaffold, in the reign of Queen Mary, against 
whom he attempted to raise a revolt. To this son Sir 
Thomas wrote the subjoined letters of advice, soon after the 
former married, which he did at the early age of fifteen. 
The father was then in Spain, on a mission for the king. 

SIR THOMAS WYATT'S LETTERS TO HIS SON. 
(From the Poetical Works of Surrey and Wyatt, vol. i.) 

LETTER I. 

In as much as now ye are come to some years of under- 
standing, and that you should gather within yourself some 
frame of Honesty, I thought that I should not lose my 
labour wholly if now I did something to advertise you to 
take the sure foundations and stablished oj)inions that 
leadeth to Honesty. 

And here, I call not Honesty that, men commonly call 
Honesty, as reputation for riches ; for authority, or some 



SIR THOMAS WYATT 231 

like thing ; but that Honesty., that I dare well say your 
grandfather, (whose soul God pardon) had rather left to 
me than all the lands he did leave me ; that was, Wis- 
dom, Gentleness, Soberness, desire to do Good, Friendli- 
ness to get the love of many, and Truth above all the rest. 
A great part to have all these things is to desire to have 
them. And although glory and honest name are not the 
very ends wherefore these things are to be followed, yet 
surely they must needs follow them as light followeth fire, 
though it were kindled for warmth. 

Out of these things the chiefest and infallible ground 
is the dread and reverenee of God, whereupon shall ensue 
the eschewing of the contraries of these said virtues ; that 
is to say, ignorance, unkindness, rashness, desire of harm, 
unquiet enmity, hatred, many and crafty falsehood, the 
very root of all shame and dishonesty. I say, the only 
dread and reverence of God, that seeth all things, is the 
defence of the creeping in of all these mischiefs into you. 
And for my part, although I do well say there is no man 
that would his son better than I, yet on my faith I had 
rather have you lifeless, than subject to these vices. 

Think and imagine always that you are in the presence 
of some honest man that you know ; as Sir John Russell, 
your Father-in-law, your Uncle Parson, or some other 
such, and ye shall, if at any time you find a pleasure in 
naughty touches, remember what shame it were afore 
these men to do naughtily. And sure this hnagination 
shall cause you remember, that the pleasure of a naughty 
deed is soon past, and the rebuke, shame, and the note 
thereof shall remain ever. Then, if these things ye take 
for vain imaginations, yet remember that it is certain, and 
no imagination, that ye are alway in the presence and 
sight of God : and though you see him not, so much is 
the reverence the more to be had for that He seeth, and 
is not seen. 



232 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Men punish with shame as greatest punishment on 
earth, yea ! greater than death ; but His punishment is, 
first, the withdrawing of his favour, and grace, and in 
leaving his hand to rule the stern to let the ship run with- 
out guide to its own destruction ; and suff ereth so the 
man that he forsaketh to run headlong as subject to all 
mishaps, and at last with shameful end to everlasting 
shame and death. Ye may see continual examples both 
of the one sort, and of the other ; and the better, if ye 
mark them well that yourself are come of ; and consider 
well your good grandfather, what things there were in him, 
and his end. And they that knew him noted him thus ; 
first, and chiefly to have a great reverence of God and 
good opinion of godly things. Next that, there was no 
man more pitiful ; no man more true of his word ; no 
man faster to his friend, no man diligenter nor more cir- 
cumspect, which thing, both the Kings his masters noted 
in him greatly. And if these things, and specially the 
grace of God that the fear of God always kept with him, 
had not been, the chances of this troublesome world that 
he was in had long ago overwhelmed him. This pre- 
served him in prison from the hands of the tyrant that 
could find in his heart to see him racked ; from two years 
and more prisonment in Scotland in irons and stocks; 
from the danger of sudden changes and commotions divers, 
till that well beloved of many, hated of none, in his fair 
age, and good reputation, godly and christianly he went 
to Him that loved him, for that he had always had Him 
in reverence. 

And of myself, I may be a near example unto you of 
my folly and unthriftness, that hath, as I well deserved, 
brought me into a thousand dangers and hazards, enmi- 
ties, hatreds, prisonments, despites, and indignations ; but 
that God hath of his goodness chastised me, and not cast 



SIR THOMAS WYATT 233 

me clean out of his favour ; which thing I can impute to 
nothing but to the goodness of my good father, that, I 
dare well say purchased with continual request of God 
his Grace towards me more than I regarded, or consid- 
ered myself ; and a little part to the small fear that I had 
of God in the most of my rage, and the little delight that 
I had in mischief. You, therefore, if ye be sure, and 
have God in your sleeve to call you to his grace at last, 
venture hardily by mine example upon naughty unthrift- 
ness, in trust of his goodness ; and besides the shame, I 
dare lay ten to one ye shall perish in the adventure ; for 
trust me, that my wish or desire of God for you shall not 
stand you in as much effect, as I think my father's did for 
me : we are not all accepted of Him. 

Begin, therefore, betimes. Make God and goodness 
your foundations. Make your examples of wise and 
honest men : shoot at that mark : be no mocker : mocks 
follow them that delight therein. He shall be sure of 
shame that feeleth no grief in other men's shames. Have 
your friends in a reverence ; and think unkindness to be 
the greatest offence, and least punished amongst men; but 
so much the more to be dread, for God is justiser upon 
that alone. 

Love well, and agree with your wife ; for where is noise 
and debate in the house there is unquiet dwelling ; and 
much more, where it is in one bed. Frame well yourself 
to love and rule well and honestly your wife as your fellow, 
and she shall love and reverence you as her head. Such 
as you are unto her, such shall she be unto you. Obey 
and reverence your father-in-law, as you would me ; and 
remember that long life followeth them that reverence 
their fathers and elders ; and the blessing of God, for 
good agreement between the wife and husband, is fruit of 
many children. 



234 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Read oft this my letter, and it shall be as though I had 
often written to you ; and think that I have herein printed 
a fatherly affection to you. If I may see that I have not 
lost my pain, mine shall be the contentation, and yours the 
profit ; and, upon condition that you follow my advertise- 
ment, I send you God's blessing and mine, and as well 
come to honesty, as to increase of years. 

LETTEK II. 

I doubt not but long ere this time my letters are come 
to you. I remember I wrote to you in them, that if you 
read them often it shall be as though I had written often 
to you. For all that, I cannot so content me but still to 
call upon you with my letters. I would not for all that, 
that if any thing be well warned in the other that you 
should leave to remember it because of this new. For 
it is not like with advertisements as it is with apparel that 
with long wearing a man casteth away, when he hath new. 
Honest teachings never wear ; unless they wear out of his 
remembrance that should keep and follow them, to the 
shame and hurt of himself. Think not also that I have 
any new or change of advertisements to send you ;• but 
still it is one that I would. I have nothing to cry and 
call upon you for but Honesty, Honesty. It may be 
diversely named, but alway it tendeth to one end ; and as 
I wrote to you last, I mean not that Honesty that the 
common sort calleth an honest man. Trust me, that hon- 
est man is as common a name as the name of a good 
fellow; that is to say, a drunkard, a tavern haunter, a 
rioter, a gamer, a waster. So are among the common 
sort all men honest men that are not known for manifest 
naughty knaves. 

Seek not I pray thee, my Son, that Honesty which 
appeareth, and is not indeed. Be well assured it is no 



SIR THOMAS WYATT 235 

common thing, nor no common man's judgment to judge 
well of honesty ; nor it is no common thing to come by ; 
but so much it is the more goodly, for that it is so rare 
and strange. 

Follow not therefore the common reputation of Hon- 
esty. If you will seem honest, be honest ; or else seem as 
you are. Seek not the name without the thing ; nor let not 
the name be the only mark you shoot at : that will follow 
though you regard it not ; yea ! and the more you regard 
it, the less. I mean not by regard it not, esteem it not ; 
for well I wot honest name is goodly. But he that hunt- 
eth only for that, is like him that had rather seem warm 
than be warm, and edgeth a single coat about with a fur. 
Honest name is to be kept, preserved, and defended, and 
not to employ all a man's wit about the study of it ; for 
that smelleth of a glorious and ambitious fool. I say, as 
I wrote unto you in my last letters, get the thing, and the 
other must of necessity follow, as the shadow followeth 
the thing that it is of; and even so much is the very 
Honesty better than the name, as the thing is better than 
the shadow. 

The coming to this point that I would so fain have you 
have, is to consider a man's own self what he is, and 
wherefore he is ; and herein let him think verily that so 
goodly a work as man is, for whom all other things were 
wrought, was not wrought but for goodly things. After a 
man hath gotten a will and desire to them, is first to 
avoid evil, and learn that point alone : " Never to do that, 
that within yourself you find a certain grudging against." 
No doubt in any thing you do, if you ask yourself, or 
examine the thing in yourself afore you do it, you shall 
find, if it be evil, a repining against it. My Son ! for 
our Lord's love keep well that repining ; suffer it not to 
be darked and corrupted by naughty example, as though 



236 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

any thing were to you excusable because other men do 
the same. That same repining, if it did punish as he 
doth judge, there were no such justicer ; and of truth, so 
doth it punish ; but not so apparently. Here however it 
is no small grief, of a conscience that condemneth itself ; 
but be well assured, after this life it is a continual gnaw- 
ing. 

When there is a custom gotten of avoiding to do evil, 
then cometh a gentle courage. Be content to be idle, and 
to rest without doing any thing. Then too had ye need to 
gather an heap of good opinions and to get them perfectly, 
as it were on your fingers ends. Rest not greatly upon 
the approving of them; take them as already approved, 
because they were of honest men's leavings. Of them of 
God, there is no question ; and it is no small help to them, 
the good opinion of moral philosophers, among whom I 
would Seneca [in] your study; and Epictetus, because it 
is little, to be ever in bosom. 

These things shall lead you to know goodly [things] ; 
which when a man knoweth and taketh pleasure in them, 
he is a beast that followeth not them : no, nor he cannot 
but follow them. But take this for conclusion and sum 
of all ; that if God and his Grace be not the foundation, 
neither can ye avoid evil, nor judge well, nor do any 
goodly thing. Let Him be foundation of all. Will these 
things ; desire them earnestly, and seek them at his 
hands, and knowledge them to come of Him, and ques- 
tionless He will both give you the use and pleasure in 
using them, and also reward you for them that come of 
Him ; so liberal and good is He. 

I would fain see that my letters might work to frame 
you honest. And think that without that, I esteem no- 
thing of you : no ! not that you are my son. For I reckon 
it no small dishonesty to myself to have an unhonest 



SIR THOMAS WYATT 237 

taught child : but the fault shall not be in me. I shall 
do the part of a father : and if you answer not to that I 
look for at your hands, I shall as well study with that 
that I shall leave, to make such [some] honest man, as 
you. 



LORD BURLEIGH 

(A. D. 1520-1598.) 

William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, the most trusted of the 
ministers of Queen Elizabeth, was born at Bourn, in Lincoln- 
shire, England, in 1520. He was educated at Cambridge; 
studied law; and at the early age of twenty-eight became 
secretary of state, under the young king, Edward VI. On 
the death of Edward, and the accession of Queen Mary, he 
resigned his office, but avoided the ensuing persecutions by 
conformity to the Roman Church. Queen Elizabeth came 
to the throne in 1558, and Cecil was at once called to her 
service, in which he continued until his death, in 1598. He 
is said to have been the one minister in whom the queen 
really confided, and he was practically prime minister for 
forty years. 

The "Ten Precepts " quoted below were composed by Lord 
Burleigh for his son Robert, who succeeded his father as sec- 
retary of state to Queen Elizabeth; who was largely instru- 
mental in securing to King James of Scotland the succession 
to the English throne, and who was raised by that sover- 
eign to the earldom of Salisbury in 1605. The earldom of 
Salisbury, with the marquisate added to it in 1787, has re- 
mained in the Salisbury family to the present day. 

TEN PRECEPTS BY LORD BURLEIGH. 
(From " English Prose Selections; " ed. by Henry Craik, vol. i.) 

Son Robert — The virtuous inclinations of thy match- 
less mother, by whose tender and godly care thy infancy 
was governed, together with thy education under so zeal- 
ous and excellent a tutor, puts me in rather assurance 
than hope, that thou art not ignorant of that summum 



LORD BURLEIGH 239 

bonum, which is only able to make thee happy as well in 
thy death as life ; I mean the true knowledge and wor- 
ship of thy Creator and Redeemer ; without which all 
other things are vain and miserable : so that thy youth 
being guided by so sufficient a teacher, I make no doubt 
but he will furnish thy life with divine and moral docu- 
ments ; yet that I may not cast off the care beseeming a 
parent towards his child ; or that you should have cause 
to derive thy whole felicity and welfare rather from others 
than from whence thou receivedst thy breath and being ; 
I think it fit and agreeable to the affection I bear thee, 
to help thee with such rules and advertisements for the 
squaring of thy life, as are rather gained by experience, 
than much reading ; to the end that entering into this ex- 
orbitant age, thou mayest be the better prepared to shun 
those scandalous courses whereunto the world and the lack 
of experience may easily draw thee. And because I will 
not confound thy memory, I have reduced them into ten 
precepts ; and next unto Moses' tables, if thou imprint 
them in thy mind, thou shalt reap the benefit, and I the 
content ; and they are these following : — 



When it shall please God to bring thee to man's estate, 
use great providence and circumspection in choosing thy 
wife ; for from thence will spring all thy future good or 
evil ; and it is an action of life, like unto a stratagem 
of war, wherein a man can err but once. If thy estate 
be good, match near home and at leisure ; if weak, far off 
and quickly. Enquire diligently of her disposition, and 
how her parents have been inclined in their youth ; let 
her not be poor, how generous soever ; for a man can 
buy nothing in the market with gentility ; nor choose a 
base and uncomely creature altogether for wealth ; for it 



240 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

will cause contempt in others and loathing in thee ; neither 
make choice of a dwarf, or a fool ; for by the one you 
shall beget a race of pigmies, the other will be thy con- 
tinual disgrace, and it will yirke thee to hear her talk ; 
for thou shalt find it, to thy great grief, that there is 
nothing more fulsome than a she-fool. 

And touching the guiding of thy house, let thy hospi- 
tality be moderate, and according to the means of thy 
estate ; rather plentiful than sparing, but not costly ; for 
I never knew any man grow poor by keeping an orderly 
table ; but some consume themselves through secret vices, 
and their hospitality bears the blame ; but banish swinish 
drunkards out of thine house, which is a vice impairing 
health, consuming much, and makes no show. I never 
heard praise ascribed to the drunkard, but for the well 
bearing of his drink, which is better commendation for a 
brewer's horse or a dray man, than for either a gentleman, 
or a serving man. Beware thou spend not above three or 
four parts of thy revenues ; nor above a third part of that 
in thy house ; for the other two parts will do no more than 
defray thy extraordinaries, which always surmount the 
ordinary by much : otherwise thou shalt live like a rich 
beggar, in continual want: and the needy man can never 
live happily or contentedly ; for every disaster makes him 
ready to mortgage or sell ; and that gentleman who sells 
an acre of land, sells an ounce of credit, for gentility is 
nothing else but ancient riches ; so that if the foundation 
shall at any time sink, the building must need follow. So 
much for the first precept. 

II. 

Bring thy children up in learning and obedience, yet 
without outward austerity. Praise them openly, reprehend 
them secretly. Give them good countenance and conven- 



LORD BURLEIGH 241 

ient maintenance according to thy ability, otherwise thy 
life will seem their bondage, and what portion thou shalt 
leave them at thy death, they will thank death for it, and 
not thee. And I am persuaded that the foolish cocker- 
ing of some parents, and the overstern carriage of others, 
causeth more men and women to take ill courses, than 
their own vicious inclinations. Marry thy daughters in 
time, lest they marry themselves. And suffer not thy 
sons to pass the Alps, for they shall learn nothing there 
but pride, blasphemy, and atheism. And if by travel 
they get a few broken languages, that shall profit them 
nothing more than to have one meat served in divers 
dishes. Neither, by my consent, shalt thou train them 
up in wars ; for he that sets up his rest to live by that 
profession, can hardly be an honest man or a good Chris- 
tian ; besides it is a science no longer in request than use ; 
for soldiers in peace, are like chimneys in summer. 

in. 

Live not in the country without corn and cattle about 
thee ; for he that putteth his hand to the purse for every 
expense of household, is like him that putteth water in 
a sieve. And what provision thou shalt want, learn to buy 
it at the best hand ; for there is one penny saved in four, 
betwixt buying in thy need, and when the markets and 
seasons serve fittest for it. Be not served with kinsmen, 
or friends, or men, intreated to stay ; for they expect 
much and do little ; nor with such as are amorous, for 
their heads are intoxicated. And keep rather two too few, 
than one too many. Feed them well, and pay them with 
the most ; and then thou mayest boldly require service at 
their hands. 



242 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

IV. 

Let thy kindred and allies be welcome to thy house 
and table ; grace them with thy countenance, and farther 
them in all honest actions ; for by this means, thou shalt 
so double the bond of nature, as thou shalt find them so 
many advocates to plead an apology for thee behind thy 
back ; but shake off those glow-worms, I mean parasites 
and sycophants, who will feed and fawn upon thee in the 
summer of prosperity, but in adverse storm, they will 
shelter thee no more than an harbour in winter. 

V. 

Beware of suretyship for thy best friends; he that 
payeth another man's debts, seeketh his own decay; but 
if thou canst not otherwise choose, rather lend thy money 
thyself upon good bonds, although thou borrow it ; so 
shalt thou secure thyself, and pleasure thy friend ; nei- 
ther borrow money of a neighbour or a friend, but of a 
stranger, where paying it, thou shalt hear no more of it, 
otherwise thou shalt eclipse thy credit, lose thy freedom, 
and yet pay as dear as to another. But in borrowing of 
money be precious of thy word, for he that hath care of 
keeping days of payment, is lord of another man's purse. 

VI. 

Undertake no suit against a poor man without receiv- 
ing much wrong ; for besides that thou makest him thy 
compeer, it is a base conquest to triumph where there is 
small resistance ; neither attempt law against any man 
before thou be fully resolved that thou hast right on thy 
side ; and then spare not for either money or pains ; for 
a cause or two so followed and obtained, will free thee 
from suits a great part of thy life. 



LORD BURLEIGH 243 

VII. 
Be sure to keep some great man thy friend, but trouble 
him not with trifles ; compliment him often with many, 
yet small gifts, and of little charge ; and if thou hast 
cause to bestow any great gratuity, let it be something 
which may be daily in sight ; otherwise in this ambitious 
age, thou shalt remain like a hop without a pole ; live in 
obscurity, and be made a football for every insulting com- 
panion to spurn at. 

VIII. 

Towards thy superiors be humble, yet generous ; with 
thine equals, familiar, yet respective ; towards thine in- 
feriors show much humanity, and some familiarity ; as to 
bow the body, stretch forth the hand, and to uncover the 
head, with such like popular compliments. The first pre- 
pares thy way to advancement, the second makes thee 
known for a man well bred, the third gains a good report, 
which once got is easily kept ; for right humanity takes 
such deep root in the minds of the multitude as they are 
easilier gained by unprofitable courtesies, than by churlish 
benefits; yet I advise thee not to affect or neglect popu- 
larity too much; seek not to be Essex; shun to be 
Kaleigh. 

IX. 

Trust not any man with thy life, credit, or estate ; for 
it is mere folly for a man to enthrall himself to his friend, 
as though, occasion being offered, he should not dare to 
become his enemy. 

x. 

Be not scurrilous in conversation nor satirical in thy 
jests ; the one will make thee unwelcome to all company, 
the other pull on quarrels, and get thee hatred of thy best 
friends ; for suspicious jests, when any of them savour of 



244 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

truth, leave a bitterness in the minds of those which are 
touched ; and, albeit, I have already pointed at this in- 
clusively yet I think it necessary to leave it to thee as a 
special caution ; because I have seen many so prone to 
quip and gird, as they would rather leese their friend 
than their jest ; and if, perchance, their boiling brain 
yield a quaint scoff, they will travail to be delivered of it 
as a woman with child. These nimble fancies are but the 
froth of wit. 



SIR HENRY SIDNEY 

(A. D. 1529-1586.) 

Sir Henry Sidney, the father of Sir Philip Sidney, was 
born in 1529. "This right famous, renowned, worthy, vir- 
tuous, and heroical knight, " says Holingshed, the chronicler, 
"by father and mother very nobly descended, was from his 
infancy bred and brought up in the prince's court and in 
nearness to his person, used familiarly even as a companion." 
At the age of eight, he was henchman, or page, to King 
Henry VIII., and later he attended constantly upon Edward 
VI., who died in his arms. Sir Henry married Lady Mary 
Dudley, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, in 1552, 
and their famous son Philip, the English Bayard, was born 
in 1554. 

When Philip had reached about the age of eleven years, 
and was at school in Shrewsbury, his father, then Lord 
Deputy of Ireland, wrote to him the letter here subjoined, 
which, as Mr. H. R. Fox Bourne remarks "is so indicative 
of the character of both father and son, so characteristic, 
also, of the noblest tendencies of the age, that it must be 
quoted entire." 

A FATHER'S LETTER TO SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. 

(From " A Memoir of Sir Philip Sidney," by H. R. Fox Bourne.) 

Since this is my first letter that ever I did write to 
you, I will not that it be all empty of some advices 
which my natural care of you provoketh me to wish you 
to follow, as documents to you in this your tender age. 
Let your first action be the lifting up of your mind to 
Almighty God, by hearty prayer ; and feelingly digest the 
words you speak in prayer, with continual meditation and 



246 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

thinking of Him to whom you pray, and of the matter for 
which you pray. And use this as an ordinary act, and at 
an ordinary hour ; whereby the time itself shall put you 
in remembrance to do that which you are accustomed to 
do in that time. Apply your study to such hours as your 
discreet master doth assign you, earnestly ; and the time 
I know he will so limit, as shall be sufficient for your 
learning and safe for your health. And mark the sense 
and the matter of that you read, as well as the words. So 
shall you both enrich your tongue with words, and your 
wit with matter ; and judgment will grow as years grow- 
eth in you. Be humble and obedient to your master, for 
unless you frame yourself to obey others, yea, and feel 
in yourself what obedience is, you shall never be able to 
teach others how to obey you. Be courteous of gesture, 
and affable to all men, with diversity of reverence, accord- 
ing to the dignity of the person : there is nothing that 
winneth so much with so little cost. Use moderate diet, 
so as, after your meal, you may find your wit fresher and 
not duller, and your body more lively and not more heavy. 
Seldom drink wine ; and yet sometimes do, lest, being 
enforced to drink upon the sudden, you should find your- 
self enflamed. Use exercise of body, yet such as is with- 
out peril of your joints or bones : it will increase your 
force, and enlarge your breath. Delight to be cleanly, as 
well in all parts of your body as in your garments : it 
shall make you grateful in each company, and otherwise 
loathsome. Give yourself to be merry ; for you degener- 
ate from your father, if you find not yourself most able in 
wit and body and to do anything when you be most merry : 
but let your mirth be ever void of scurrility and biting 
words to any man, for a wound given by a word is often- 
times harder to be cured than that which is given with the 
sword. Be you rather a hearer and bearer away of other 



SIR HENRY SIDNEY 247 

men's talk than a beginner and procurer of speech ; other- 
wise you shall be counted to delight to hear yourself 
speak. If you hear a wise sentence or an apt phrase, 
commit it to your memory with respect of the circumstance 
when you shall speak it. Let never oath be heard to 
come out of your mouth, nor word of ribaldry : detest 
it in others ; so shall custom make to yourself a law 
against it in yourself. Be modest in each assembly ; and 
rather be rebuked of light fellows for maiden-like shame- 
fastness, than of your sad friends for pert boldness. 
Think upon every word that you will speak before you 
utter it, and remember how nature hath ramparted up, as 
it were, the tongue with teeth, lips, yea, and hair without 
the lips, and all betokening reins or bridles for the loose 
use of that member. Above all things tell no untruth ; 
no, not in trifles : the custom of it is naughty. And let 
it not satisfy you that, for a time, the hearers take it for 
truth ; for after it will be known as it is, to your shame : 
for there cannot be a greater reproach to a gentleman 
than to be accounted a liar. Study and endeavour your- 
self to be virtuously occupied : so shall you make such a 
habit of well-doing in you, that you shall not know how 
to do evil, though you would. Remember, my son, the 
noble blood you are descended of, by your mother's side ; 
and think that only by virtuous life and good action you 
may be an ornament to that illustrious family ; and other- 
wise, through vice and sloth, you shall be counted lobes 
generis — one of the greatest curses that can happen to 
man. Well, my little Philip, this is enough for me, and 
too much, I fear, for you. But if I shall find that this 
light meal of digestion nourish anything in the weak 
stomach of your capacity, I will, as I find the same grow 
stronger, feed it with tougher food. Your loving father, 
so long as you live in the fear of God. 

H. Sidney. 



MONTAIGNE 

(A. D. 1533-1592.) 

Seigneur de Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, father of 
all modern essayists, was a native of the department of Dor- 
dogne in southwestern France, born February 28, 1533. 
Carefully educated, first at home and then at Bordeaux, he 
was trained for the profession of the law, and took a seat 
as counsellor in the Parliament of Bordeaux in 1554, but 
resigned it in 1570, on his father's death. From that time 
he devoted himself mainly to travel, study, and literary 
pursuits. The first two books of his "Essais" were pub- 
lished in 1580. His death occurred in 1592. 

"In Montaigne we see that new intellectual liberty of his 
day, not knowing how to use itself, or to take care of itself ; 
puzzled by what it saw, and by what it had to keep to; 
boldly dwelling on discrepancies, but too lazy and self-willed 
to try to penetrate them and reconcile them. He felt the 
obligation, cast on men by the times in which he lived, of 
learning to think, instead of repeating other men's words; but 
he did not feel the greatness of the purpose for which that 
obligation had been cast on them. . . . Besides the keenness 
and good sense shown, Montaigne's thinking came to little. 
He broke up the ground which others after him sowed with 
many kinds of seed. He was a kind of imperfect Socrates, 
the cross-examiner of his generation, — bold, inquisitive, and 
shrewd, taking nothing on trust, and hating pretence, — 
homely, unconventional, untechnical, — with his idea right, 
but too careless, too selfish, and it must be added, not pure 
enough, not thorough enough, to give it effect; below Soc- 
rates in elevation and noble purpose, fifteen hundred years 
after an event which ought to have made him wiser and more 
serious than Socrates." — Dean R. W. Church, "The Es- 
says of Montaigne" (" Miscellaneous Essays," i.). 



MONTAIGNE 249 

MONTAIGNE'S CULTIVATION OF LIFE. 
(From the " Essays of Montaigne," book iii. ch. 13.) 

Of the experience I have of myself, I find enough to 
make me wise, if I were but a good scholar : whoever will 
call to mind the excess of his past anger, and to what a 
degree that fever transported him, will see the deformity 
of this passion better than in Aristotle, and conceive a 
more just hatred against it. Whoever will remember the 
hazards he has run, those that threaten him, and the light 
occasions that have removed him from one state to an- 
other, will by that prepare himself for future changes, and 
the knowledge of his condition. The life of Caesar him- 
self has no greater example for us than our own : both 
popular and imperial, it is still a life to which all human 
accidents may refer. Let us but listen to it, and we may 
apply to ourselves all that we have principal need of; 
whoever shall call to memory how many and many times 
he has been mistaken in his own judgment, is he not a 
great fool if he does not ever after distrust it ? When I 
find myself convinced, by the reason of another, of a false 
opinion, I do not learn so much what he has said to me 
that is new, and my ignorance in this particular thing — 
which would be no great acquisition — as I do in general 
my own weakness, and the treachery of my understanding, 
whence I extract the reformation of the whole mass. In 
all my errors I do the same ; and find from this ride great 
utility to life. . . . 

When I see both Caesar and Alexander, in the thickest 
of their greatest business, so fully enjoy human and bodily 
pleasures, I do not say that they slackened their souls, but 
wound them up higher by vigour of courage, subjecting 
these violent employments and laborious thoughts to the 



250 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ordinary use of life : wise, had they believed that the last 
was their ordinary employment ; the first, their extraor- 
dinary vocation. We are great fools. " He has passed 
his life in ease," say we : "I have done nothing to-day." 
What ! have you not lived ? 'T is not only the fundamen- 
tal, but the most illustrious of your occupations. " Had 
I been put to the management of great affairs, I should 
have shown what I could do." Have you known how to 
meditate, and manage your life ? you have performed the 
greatest work of all : for a man to shew and set himself 
out, nature has no need of fortune ; she equally shews 
herself in all degrees, and behind a curtain, as well as 
without one. Have you known how to compose your 
manners ? You have done a great deal more than he who 
has composed books. Have you known how to take re- 
pose ? You have done more than he who has taken cities 
and empires. 

The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know 
how to live to purpose ; all other things, to reign, to lay 
up treasure, to build, are at the most but mere appendixes 
and little props. I take a delight to see a general of an 
army at the foot of a breach he intends presently to as- 
sault, giving himself up entire and free at dinner, to talk 
and be merry with his friends ; and Brutus, when heaven 
and earth were conspired against him and the Roman 
liberty, stealing some hour of the night from his rounds 
to read and abridge Polybius, as in all security. 'T is 
for little souls, that truckle under the weight of af- 
fairs, not to know how clearly to disengage themselves, 
and not to know how to lay them aside, and take them up 
again. . . . Grandeur of soul consists not so much in 
mounting and in proceeding forward, as in knowing how 
to govern and circumscribe itself. It takes every thing 
for great that is enough ; and shows its height better in 



MONTAIGNE 251 

loving moderate than eminent things. There is nothing 
so handsome and lawful as well and duly to play the man ; 
nor science so hard as well to know how to live this life ; 
and of all the infirmities we have, 't is the most savage to 
despise our being. . . . 

I enjoin my soul to look upon pain and pleasure with 
an eye equally regular : Eodem enim vitio est effusio 
animi in laetitia, quo in dolore contractio, " For 't is by 
the same vice that we dilate ourselves in mirth, and con- 
tract in sorrow," and equally firm ; but the one gaily, and 
the other severely, and according to what it is able, to be 
as careful to restrain the one as to extend the other. The 
judging rightly of goods brings along with it the judging 
soundly of evils ; and pain has something not to be avoided 
in its tender beginnings, and pleasure has something that 
may be avoided in its excessive end. Plato couples them 
together, and will that it should be equally the office of 
fortitude to fight against pain, and against the immoderate 
and charming blandishments of pleasure : they are two 
fountains, from which whoever draws, when, and as much 
as he needs, whether city, man, or beast, is very happy. 
. . . Others are sensible of the sweetness of contentment 
and of prosperity ; I feel it too as well as they, but not as 
it slides and passes by ; a man ought to study, taste, and 
ruminate upon it, to render worthy thanks to Him that 
grants it to us. They enjoy the other pleasures as they 
do that of sleep, without knowing it. To the end that 
even sleep itself should not so stupidly escape from me, I 
have formerly caused myself to be disturbed in my sleep, 
that I might the better and more sensibly relish and 
savour it. I consult myself about a contentment ; I do 
not skim, but sound it ; and bend my reason, now grown 
perverse and ill-humoured, to entertain it. Do I find my- 
self in calm composedness ? Is there any pleasure that 



252 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

tickles me? I do not suffer it to dally with my senses 
only ; I associate my soul to it too ; not there to engage 
herself, but therein to take delight ; not there to lose her- 
self, but to be present there ; and employ her on her part 
to view herself in this prosperous estate, to weigh, esteem, 
and amplify its happiness. . . . 

For my part, then, I love life, and cultivate it, such as 
it has pleased God to bestow it upon us. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 

(A. D. 1552-1618.) 

Walter Raleigh, soldier, statesman, explorer, colonizer, 
historian, poet, — the typical man of the Elizabethan age, — 
was born at Hayes, in South Devon, England, in 1552, the 
son of a poor gentleman of ancient stock. His scant school- 
ing ended in a brief term at Oxford, and his life of adventure 
began at the boyish age of seventeen, when he went as a 
volunteer to fight under Conde' and Coligny, for the Hugue- 
nots of France. From France he went fighting to the Neth- 
erlands, in aid of the Dutch against Spain, and nearly ten 
years pass before he is found once more in England. Then 
he starts with Humphrey Gilbert, his half-brother, on an 
exploring voyage to America, but is driven back by storms 
and hostile Spaniards. In 1580 he is soldiering again in 
Ireland ; in 1582 he is winning the favor of Queen Elizabeth 
at the English court; in 1584 he sends out his first Virginia 
expedition; the next year he is knighted by the queen, and 
plants his unfortunate colony on Roanoke Island. In 1588 
he is active and heroic in the defense of England against the 
Armada. The next year he is with Drake's expedition to 
Portugal, and afterwards with Edmund Spenser in Ireland, 
whence he brings the first three books of the "Faerie Queene " 
for presentation to Elizabeth. In 1590 he fits out a squad- 
ron and cruises with Frobisher in the West- Indies, missing 
the Spanish plate fleet, but capturing a rich prize at the 
Azores. On returning he is imprisoned in the Tower for 
seduction of one of the queen's maids of honor, whom he 
marries. Restored to favor, he enters Parliament, and ac- 
quires Sherborne Manor, where he "builds and beautifies." 
In 1595 he is at sea again, with an expedition which explores 
the Guiana coast and ascends the Orinoco, seeking Eldorado, 
and he publishes a narrative of his voyage. In 1596 he 
serves under Howard and Essex in the Cadiz expedition, and 



254 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

is at the taking of Fayal next year. The death of Queen 
Elizabeth and the accession of King James end his favor at 
court. Accused of complicity in the plot to raise Arabella 
Stuart to the throne, he is condemned to death, but remains 
for thirteen years a prisoner in the Tower, during which time 
his "History of the World" is written. Then, in 1616, he 
is released, to make his last ill-starred expedition to Guiana, 
reviving Spanish hatreds, which now pursue him to the death. 
King James, seeking a Spanish marriage for his son, thinks 
Raleigh's life a small price to pay for the good will of the 
court at Madrid. So Sir Walter returns to the Tower; the 
old sentence of 1603 is declared to be of force, and, on the 
29th of October, 1618, he lays his head upon the block. 

RALEIGH'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON AND TO 
POSTERITY. 

(From his Works, vol. viii.) 
CHAPTER I. 

There is nothing more becoming any wise man than to 
make choice of friends ; for by them thou shalt be judged 
what thou art. Let them therefore be wise and virtuous, 
and none of those that follow thee for gain. ... If thy 
friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be 
sure of two things : the first, that they will be more care- 
ful to keep thy counsel, because they have more to lose 
than thou hast ; the second, they will esteem thee for thy- 
self, and not for that which thou dost possess. . . . Let 
thy love therefore be to the best, so long as they do well : 
but take heed that thou love God, thy country, thy prince, 
and thine own estate, before all others, for the fancies of 
men change, and he that loves to-day hateth to-morrow: 
but let reason be thy schoolmistress, which shall ever guide 
thee aright. 

CHAPTER II. 

The next and greatest care ought to be in the choice 
of a wife, and the only danger therein is beauty, by 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 255 

which all men in all ages, wise and foolish, have been 
betrayed. . . . 

CHAPTER III. 

Take care thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even 
the wisest men are abused by these. Know therefore, 
that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors ; for they will 
strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, 
correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy 
vices and follies as thou shalt never, by their will, discern 
evil from good, or vice from virtue. And because all men 
are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of 
other men's praises is most perilous. Do not therefore 
praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a vainglorious 
fool, neither take delight in the praises of other men, 
except thou deserve it, and receive it from such as are 
worthy and honest, and will withal warn thee of thy 
faults. . . . 

CHAPTER IV. 

Be careful to avoid public disputations at feasts, or at 
tables among choleric or quarrelsome persons ; and eschew 
evermore to be acquainted or familiar with ruffians. . . . 

Jest not openly at those that are simple, but remember 
how much thou art bound to God, who hath made thee 
wiser. . . . Remember the divine saying ; He that keep- 
eth his mouth keepeth his life. Do therefore right to all 
men where it may profit them, and thou shalt thereby 
get much love ; and forbear to speak evil things of 
men, though it be true, (if thou be not constrained,) and 
thereby thou shalt avoid malice and revenge. 

Do not accuse any man of any crime, if it be not to 
save thyself, thy prince, or country ; for there is nothing 
more dishonourable (next to treason itself) than to be an 
accuser. Notwithstanding, I would not have thee for any 
respect lose thy reputation, or endure public disgrace; 



256 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

for better it were not to live, than to live a coward, if 
the offence proceed not from thyself ; if it do, it shall be 
better to compound it upon good terms than to hazard 
thyself ; for if thou overcome, thou art under the cru- 
elty of the law ; if thou art overcome, thou art dead or 
dishonoured. . . . 

Speaking much also is a sign of vanity ; for he that is 
lavish in words is a niggard in deeds ; and as Solomon 
saith,'TAe mouth of a wise man is in his heart, the heart 
of a fool is in his mouth, because what he knoweth or 
thinketh he uttereth. And by thy words and discourses 
men will judge thee : for as Socrates saith, " Such as thy 
words are, such will thy affections be esteemed ; and such 
will thy deeds as thy affections, and such thy life as thy 
deeds." Therefore be advised what thou dost discourse 
of, and what thou maintainest, whether touching religion, 
state, or vanity ; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be 
accounted profane ; if in the second, dangerous ; if in the 
third, indiscreet and foolish. . . . 

CHAPTER V. 

Amongst all other things of the world take care of thy 
estate, which thou shalt ever preserve, if thou observe 
three things ; first, that thou know what thou hast, what 
every thing is worth that thou hast, and to see that thou 
art not wasted by thy servants and officers. The second 
is, that thou never spend any thing before thou have it ; 
for borrowing is the canker and death of every man's 
estate. The third is, that thou suffer not thyself to be 
wounded for other men's faults, and scourged for other 
men's offences, which is the surety for another ; for 
thereby millions of men have been beggared and destroyed, 
paying the reckoning of other men's riot, and the charge 
of other men's folly and prodigality ; if thou smart, smart 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 257 

for thine own sins ; and, above all things, be not made an 
ass to carry the burdens of other men : if any friend 
desire thee to be his surety, give him a part of what 
thou hast to spare ; if he press thee further, he is not thy 
friend at all, for friendship rather chooseth harm to itself 
than off ereth it ; if thou be bound for a stranger, thou art 
a fool : if for a merchant, thou putteth thy estate to learn 
to swim : if for a churchman, he hath no inheritance : if 
for a lawyer, he will find an evasion, by a syllable or 
word, to abuse thee : if for a poor man thou must pay it 
thyself : if for a rich man, it need not : therefore from 
suretyship, as from a man slayer or enchanter, bless thy- 
self. . . . 

CHAPTER VII. 

Exceed not in the humour of rags and bravery, for 
these will soon wear out of fashion ; but money in thy 
purse will ever be in fashion ; and no man is esteemed for 
gay garments but by fools and women. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

On the other side, take heed that thou seek not riches 
basely, nor attain them by evil means ; destroy no man 
for his wealth, nor take any thing from the poor, for the 
cry and complaint thereof will pierce the heavens. . . . 

CHAPTER IX. 

Take especial care that thou delight not in wine ; for 
there never was any man that came to honour or prefer- 
ment that loved it ; for it transformeth a man into a 
beast, decayeth health, poisoneth the breath, destroyeth 
natural heat, brings a man's stomach to an artificial heat, 
deformeth the face, rotteth the teeth, and, to conclude, 
maketh a man contemptible, soon old, and despised of all 
wise and worthy men. . . . 



258 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

CHAPTEK X. 

Now for the world, I know it too well to persuade thee 
to dive into the practices thereof ; rather stand upon thine 
own guard against all that tempt thee thereunto, or may 
practice upon thee in thy conscience, thy reputation, or 
thy purse ; resolve that no man is wise or safe, but he 
that is honest. 

Serve God ; let him be the Author of all thy actions ; 
commend all thy endeavours to him that must either 
wither or prosper them ; please him with prayer, lest, if 
he frown, he confound all thy fortunes and labours like 
the drops of rain on the sandy ground. Let my ex- 
perienced advice and fatherly instructions sink deep into 
thy heart. So God direct thee in all his ways, and fill thy 
heart with his grace. 



JOHN LYLY 

(A. D. 1554-1606.) 

John Lyly, born in the Weald of Kent about 1554, 
graduating at Oxford in 1573, and dying in London in 1606, 
is principally known as an author by his story of " Euphues : 
the Anatomy of Wit," which few people, during the last 
three centuries, have read, but which most readers have 
heard of, as giving its name to an affectedly elegant style of 
writing, called euphuistic to this day. That the book has 
suffered unjust contempt and neglect, and is really one of 
solid merit, is the opinion of many judicious critics in recent 
times, who have given fair attention to it. For example, 
the Rev. Charles Kingsley, in his romance "Westward Ho! ", 
asks those who sneer at Lyly's "Euphues " if they have ever 
read it, and adds : " For if they have done so, I pity them 
if they have not found it, in spite of occasional tediousness 
and pedantry, as brave, righteous, and pious a book as man 
need look into ; and wish for no better proof of the noble- 
ness and virtue of the Elizabethan age than the fact that 
' Euphues ' and the ' Arcadia ' were the two popular romances 
of the day. . . . Let those who have not read ' Euphues ' 
believe that, if they could train a son after the pattern of his 
Ephcebus, to the great saving of their own money and his 
virtue, all fathers, even in these money-making days, would 
rise up and call them blessed." 

In its own day, which fell within the great age of English 
literature, — the age of Shakespeare, — "Euphues " was much 
admired. It passed through ten editions in fifty-six years ; 
after which it was never again published until 1868, when 
it appeared in Mr. Edward Arber's series of "English Re- 
prints." 

The following, from the chapter "Of the education of 
youth, " reproduces the text given by Mr. Arber : — 



260 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

EUPHUES AND HIS EPHGEBUS : OF THE EDUCATION 
OF YOUTH. 

The sum of al wherwith I would have my Ephoebus 
endued, and how I would have him instructed, shal 
briefly appeare in this following. First, that he be of 
honest parents, nursed of his mother, brought up in such 
a place as is incorrupt, both for the ayre and manners 
with such a person as is undefiled, of great zeale, of pro- 
found knowledge, of absolute perfection, yat be instructed 
in Philosophy, whereby he may atteine learning, and have 
in al sciences a smacke, whereby he may readily dispute of 
any thing. That his body be kept in his pure strength by 
honest exercise, his wit and memory by diligent study. 

That he abandon al allurements of vice, and continually 
encline to vertue, which if it shall as it may come to 
passe, then do I hope that if ever Platoes common weale 
shal flourish, that my Ephoebus shall bee a citizen, yat if 
Aristotle fined any happy man it wil be my childe, if 
Tully confesse any to be an absolute Orator, it will be my 
young youth. I am heere therefore gentlemen to exhort 
you, that with all industry you apply your minds to the 
study of Philosophy, that as you professe your selves 
students, so you may be students, that as you disdain not 
the name of a scholler, so you wil not be found voyd of 
the cluety of schollers, let not your mindes be caryed away 
with vaine delights, as with travailing into farre and 
strange countries wher you shal see more wickednesse 
then learn vertue and wit. Neither with costly attyre of 
the newe cut, the Dutch hat, the French hose, the Spanish 
rapier, ye Italian hilt, and I know not what ? 

Cast not your eyes on the beauty of women, least ye 
cast away your hearts with folly, let not that fond love, 
wherewith youth fatteth himself as fatte as a foole infect 



JOHN LYLY 261 

you, for as a sinewe being cut though it be healed, there 
wil alwayes remaine a scarre, or as fine lynnen stayned 
with blacke ynke, though it bee washed never so often, 
will have an yron Mowle : so the mind once mangled or 
maymed with love, though it be never so well cured with 
reason, or cooled by wisedome, yet there wil appeare a 
scarre, by the which one may gesse the minde hath ben 
perced, and a blemmish whereby one may judge the heart 
hath ben stayned. 

Refraine from dicing, which was the only cause that 
Pyreus was striken to the heart, and from dauncing which 
was the meanes that lost John Baptists heade ; I am not 
he that will disallowe honest recreation, although I detest 
the abuses, I speake boldely unto you bicause I myself 
know you : what Athens hath ben, what Athens is, what 
Athens shal be, I can gesse. Let not every Inne and ale- 
house in Athens be as it were your chamber, frequent not 
those ordinary tables wher either for the desire of delicate 
cates, or the meetinge of youthfull companions, yee both 
spend your money vainely and your time idly, imitate him 
in life whom ye [you seeme to] honour for his learning. 
Aristotle who was never seen in the company of those 
that idly bestowed their time. 

There is nothing more swifter than time, nothing more 
sweeter : wee have not as Seneca saith little time to live, 
but we leese muche, neither have we a short life by 
Nature, but we make it shorter by naughtynesse, our life 
is long if we know how to use it. Follow Appelles that 
cunning and wise Painter, which would let no day passe 
over his head, without a lyne, without some labour. It 
was pretely sayde of Hesiodas, lette us endeavour by 
reason to excell beastes, seeinge beasts by nature excell 
men. . . . Doth not the Lyon for strength, the Turtle 
for love, the Ante for labour excell man ? Doth not the 



262 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Eagle see cleerer, the Vulter smel better, the Mowle 
heare lyghtlyer? Let us therefore endeavour to excell in 
vertue, seeing in qualyties of ye body we are inferiour to 
beastes. And heere I am most earnestly to exhort you 
to modesty in your behaviour, to duetye to your elders, to 
dylligence in your studyes. . . . Frame therefore your 
lyves to such integritie, your studyes to atteininge of such 
perfection, that neither the might of the stronge, neyther 
the mallyce of the weake, neither the swifte reportes of 
the ignoraunt be able to spotte you wyth dishonestie, or 
note you of ungodlynesse. The greatest harme that you 
can doe unto the envious, is to doo well, the greatest cora- 
sive that you can give unto the ignoraunte, is to prosper 
in knowledge, the greatest comforte that you can bestowe 
on your parents is to lyve well and learne well, the greatest 
commoditie that you can yeelde unto your Countrey, is 
with wisedome to bestowe that talent, that by grace was 
given you. 

And here I cannot choose but give you that counsel that 
an olde man in Naples gave mee most wisely, although I 
had then neither grace to followe it, neyther will to give 
eare to it, desiring you not to reject it bicause I did once 
dispise it. It was this [thus] as I can remember word 
for word. 

Descende into your owne consciences, consider with 
your selves the great difference between staring and starke 
blynde, witte and wisedome, love and lust : Be merry but 
with modestie, be sober but not too sullen : be valiaunt, 
but not too venterous : let your attire be comely, but not 
too costly : your dyet wholesome, but not excessive : use 
pastime as the word importeth, to passe ye time in honest 
recreation : mistrust no man without cause, neither be ye 
credulous without proofe : be not lyght to follow every 
mans opinion, neither obstinate to stand in your owne con- 



JOHN LYLY 263 

ceipts : serve God, feare God, love God, and God will 
blesse you, as either your hearts can wish, or your friends 
desire. 

This was his grave and godly advise, whose counsel I 
would have you all to follow. 



LOED BACON 

(A. D. 1561-1626.) 

Francis Bacon, who received the title of Baron Verulam 
in 1618, and that of Viscount St. Albans in 1621, but who 
is commonly called Lord Bacon, was born in London in 1561. 
His father was Sir Nicholas Bacon, who held the great seal 
of England during the first twenty years of the reign of 
Elizabeth. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and 
at Gray's Inn; was attached for a time to the English em- 
bassy in France ; was admitted to the bar in 1582 ; entered 
Parliament two years later ; became solicitor-general in 1607, 
attorney-general in 1613, lord-keeper (his father's office) in 
1617, and lord chancellor in 1618. He was removed from 
the latter office, on a charge of receiving bribes, in 1621. 
His great work, on method in scientific investigation, the 
"Novum Organum, " was published in 1620. His "Essays," 
which are the most popular of his writings, had first appeared 
more than twenty years previously. 

Macaulay's estimate of Bacon, in his famous essay review- 
ing Montagu's edition of Bacon's works, commends itself to 
most minds as just. Of his genius and his philosophy he 
says: "What we most admire is the vast capacity of that in- 
tellect which, without effort, takes in at once all the domains 
of science — all the past, the present, and the future, all the 
errors of two thousand years, all the encouraging signs of the 
passing times, all the bright hopes of the coming age. Cow- 
ley, who was among the most ardent, and not among the least 
discerning followers of the new philosophy, has, in one of his 
finest poems, compared Bacon to Moses standing on Mount 
Pisgah. It is to Bacon, we think, as he appears in the first 
book of the ' Novum Organum, ' that the comparison applies 
with peculiar felicity. There we see the great law-giver 
looking round from his lonely elevation on an infinite ex- 
panse ; behind him a wilderness of dreary sands and bitter 



LORD BACON 265 

waters in which successive generations have sojourned, always 
moving, yet never advancing, reaping no harvest and build- 
ing no abiding city ; before him a goodly land, — a land of 
promise, a land flowing with milk and honey. While the 
multitude below saw only the flat, sterile desert in which they 
had so long wandered, bounded on every side by a near hori- 
zon, or diversified only by some deceitful mirage, he was gaz- 
ing, from a far higher stand, on a far lovelier country — 
following with his eye the long course of fertilizing rivers, 
through ample pastures, and under the bridges of great capi- 
tals — measuring the distances of marts and havens, and por- 
tioning out all those wealthy regions from Dan to Beersheba." 
But on the character of Lord Bacon, the grave judgment pro- 
nounced by Macaulay is as follows : " The moral qualities of 
Bacon were not of a high order. We do not say that he was 
a bad man. He was not inhuman or tyrannical. He bore 
with meekness his high civil honors, and the far higher hon- 
ors gained by his intellect. He was very seldom, if ever, 
provoked into treating any person with malignity and inso- 
lence. No man more readily held up the left cheek to those 
who had smitten the right. No man was more expert at 
the soft answer which turneth away wrath. He was never 
accused of intemperance in his pleasures. His even tem- 
per, his flowing courtesy, the general respectability of his 
demeanor, made a favorable impression on those who saw him 
in situations which do not severely try the principles. His 
faults were — we write it with pain — coldness of heart and 
meanness of spirit. He seems to have been incapable of 
feeling strong affection, of facing great dangers, of making 
great sacrifices. His desires were set on things below." 

LORD BACON'S PRECEPTS OF THE DOCTRINE OF 
ADVANCEMENT IN LIFE. 

(From " The Advancement of Learning," book viii.) 

The things necessary for the acquisition of fortune, are 
neither fewer nor less difficult nor lighter than those to 
obtain virtue ; and it is as hard and severe a thing to be 
a true politician, as to be truly moral. But the handling 



266 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

hereof concerns learning greatly, both in honour and sub- 
stance. . . . Not however that learning admires or esteems 
this architecture of fortune otherwise than as an inferior 
work. For no man's fortune can be an end worthy of the 
gift of being that has been given him by God ; and often 
the worthiest men abandon their fortunes willingly, that 
they may have leisure for higher pursuits. But never- 
theless, fortune as an instrument of virtue and merit 
deserves its own speculation and doctrine. To this doc- 
trine are attached certain precepts, some summary, and 
some scattered or various ; whereof the former relate to 
the just knowledge of ourselves and others. Let the first 
precept then (on which the knowledge of others turns) 
be set down as this : that we obtain (as far as we can) 
that window which Momus required ; who seeing in the 
frame of man's heart such angles and recesses found fault 
that there was not a window to look into its mysterious 
and tortuous windings. This window we shall obtain by 
carefully procuring good information of the particular 
persons with whom we have to deal. . . . 

Next to the knowledge of others comes the knowledge 
of self. And here, we must use even greater care in 
gaining good and accurate information touching ourselves, 
than touching others ; since the oracle " know thyself " 
is not only a rule of universal wisdom, but has a special 
place in politics. . . . Men ought therefore to take an 
accurate and impartial survey of their own abilities, vir- 
tues, and helps ; and again, of their wants, inabilities, and 
impediments ; making the account in such a manner that 
the former are always estimated rather more, and the 
latter rather less than they really are. From this exami- 
nation they should frame the following considerations. 

First, to consider how their natural and moral constitu- 
tion sort with the general state of the times; which if 



LORD BACON 267 

they find agreeable and consonant, then in all things to 
give themselves more scope and liberty, and indulge their 
dispositions ; but if there be anything differing and dis- 
cordant, then in the whole course of their life to be more 
close, retired, and reserved. . . . 

Secondly, to consider how their nature sorts with the 
professions and courses of life which are in use and re- 
pute, and whereof they have to make election ; so that if 
their profession is not already determined, they may make 
choice of that which is most fit and agreeable to their dis- 
position ; but if they have already entered on a path of life 
for which they are not naturally suited, that they may leave 
it the first opportunity, and adopt a fresh profession. . . . 

Thirdly, to consider how they sort with their equals 
and rivals, whom they are like to have as competitors in 
their fortune ; and to take that course of life wherein 
there is the greatest scarcity of distinguished men, and 
they themselves are likely to be most eminent. . . . 

Fourthly, to consider their own nature and disposition 
in the choice of their friends and dependences. For 
different natures require different kinds of friends : to 
some is suited such as are solemn and silent; to others 
such as are bold and arrogant, and so on. . . . 

Fifthly, to take especial heed how they guide themselves 
by examples, and not vainly to endeavour to frame them- 
selves upon other men's models ; as if what is open to 
others must needs be open to them, not at all reflecting 
how far the nature and character of their models may 
differ from their own. . . . 

But it is not enough for a man only to know himself ; 
for he should consider also of the best way to set himself 
forth to advantage ; to disclose and reveal himself ; and 
lastly, to turn and shape himself according to occasion. 
Now for the first we see nothing more usual than for the 



268 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

worse man to make the better external show. It is there- 
fore no unimportant attribute of prudence in a man to be 
able to set forth to advantage before others, with grace 
and skill, his virtues, fortunes, and merits (which may be 
done without arrogance or breeding disgust) ; and again, 
to cover artificially his weaknesses, defects, misfortunes, 
and disgraces. . . . 

And so much for the two summary precepts of this 
Architecture of Fortune ; whereof the scattered precepts 
are numerous, but I will select a few for example's sake. 

The first precept is that the carpenter of fortune should 
make a good use and a right application of his rule ; that 
is, that he should accustom his mind to judge of the pro- 
portion and value of all things, as they conduce more or 
less to his fortune and ends, and that he do this substan- 
tially, not superficially. . . . 

A second precept is to beware of being carried by an 
excess of magnanimity and confidence to things beyond our 
strength, and not to row against the stream. It is excel- 
lent counsel regarding men's fortunes, " Be ruled by the 
Fates and the Gods ; " for we ought to look round and 
observe where things lie open to us, and where they are 
closed and obstructed, where they are difficult and where 
easy, that we may not waste our strength on things to 
which convenient access is forbidden. . . . 

The third precept seems to be somewhat repugnant to 
the former two, though not so if rightly understood. 
The nature of it is this, that we should not always wait 
for occasions, but sometimes challenge and induce them ; 
and it is that to which Demosthenes alludes in high terms, 
" In the same manner as it is a received principle that the 
general should lead the army, so should wise men lead 
affairs, causing things to be done which they think good, 
and not themselves waiting upon events." . . . 



LORD BACON 269 

A fourth precept is to undertake nothing which of 
necessity takes up a great quantity of time, but to have 
this sound ever ringing in your ears, " time is flying, time 
which cannot be retrieved." . . . 

A fifth precept is to a certain degree to imitate nature, 
which does nothing in vain ; no very difficult task, if a 
man will skilfully mix and interlace his several kinds of 
business. , For in every particular action a man ought so 
to direct and prepare his mind, and should have one in- 
tention so underlying and subordinate to another, that if 
he cannot obtain his wishes in the best degree, he may 
yet be satisfied if he succeed in a second, or even a third ; 
and if he cannot obtain them all in that particular, then 
he may turn the labour spent in it to some other end 
besides the one intended. . . . 

A sixth precept is not to engage oneself too perempto- 
rily in anything, though at first sight it seem not liable 
to accident ; but ever to have either a window open to 
fly out at, or a secret way to retire by. . . . 

A seventh precept is that ancient precept of Bias, not 
construed to any point of perfidiousness, but only to cau- 
tion and moderation, " Love as if you were sometime to 
hate, and hate as if you were sometime to love ; " for it 
utterly betrays and destroys all utility, for men to embark 
themselves too far in unfortunate friendships, troublesome 
and turbulent quarrels, or foolish and childish jealousies 
and emulations. 

These will suffice for an example of the doctrine of ad- 
vancement in life. 

ESSEX'S LETTER OF ADVICE TO THE EARL OF 
RUTLAND. 

The following letter of advice to the Earl of Rutland on his 
travels, though attributed to the Earl of Essex, and undoubtedly 



270 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

sent and received in his name, is believed by Mr. James Sped- 
ding, Bacon's biographer, to show unmistakable signs of the 
latter's hand. The style and much of the matter bears a close 
resemblance to the early writings of Bacon, especially to the 
" Advancement of Learning." " We have direct evidence," says 
Mr. Spedding, " that, a few years later, Essex would sometimes 
employ Bacon to draw up letters for him about his own most 
personal affairs, — letters which he was himself to sign." It 
would have been most natural, then, in Mr. Spedding's opinion, 
for Bacon to make a draft of such a letter of advice as Essex 
wished to write to his cousin, and it is probable that Essex did 
not transcribe it literally, but altered and added to it, as many 
passages are in his own characteristic style. 

The following is Mr. Spedding's version of the letter obtained 
by collation of three MSS. in the Harleian Collection, and the 
printed copy. 

LETTER OF ADVICE TO THE EARL OF RUTLAND ON HIS TRAVELS. 

Your Lordsliip hath many friends who have more leisure 
to think and more sufficiency to counsel than myself; 
yet doth my love to you dedicate these few free hours 
to study of you and your intended course ; in which study 
if I find out nothing but that which you have from others, 
yet I shall perhaps confirm the opinion of wiser than 
myself. 

Your Lordship's purpose is to travel, and your study 
must be what use to make of your travel. The question 
is ordinary, and there is to it an ordinary answer ; that 
is, your Lordship shall see the beauty of many cities, 
know the manners of the people of many countries, and 
learn the language of many nations. Some of these may 
serve for ornaments, and all of them for delights ; but 
your Lordship must look further than these ; for the 
greatest ornament is the inward beauty of the mind, and 
when you have known as great variety of delight as the 
world will afford, you will confess that the greatest delight 



LORD BACON 271 

is sentire te indies fieri meliorem ; to feel that you do 
every day become more worthy ; therefore your Lord- 
ship's end and scope should be that which in moral philo- 
sophy we call cultum animi, the tilling and manuring of 
your own mind. The gifts or excellencies of the mind 
are the same as those are of the body; Beauty, Health, 
and Strength. Beauty of the mind is showed in graceful 
and acceptable forms, and sweetness of behaviour; and 
they that have that gift cause those to whom they deny 
anything to go better contented away, than men of con- 
trary disposition do them to whom they grant. Health 
consisteth in an unmovable constancy and a freedom from 
passions, which are indeed the sicknesses of the mind. 
Strength of mind is that active power which maketh us 
perform good things and great things, as well as health 
and even temper of mind keeps from those that are evil 
and base. All these three are to be sought for, though 
the greatest part of men have none of them; some have 
one and lack the other two ; a few attain to have two of 
them and lack the third ; and almost none have all. 

The first way to attain experience of forms or behav- 
iour, is to make the mind itself expert. For behaviour 
is but a garment, and it is easy to make a comely gar- 
ment for a body that is itself well-proportioned, whereas 
a deformed body can never be so helped by tailor's art 
but the counterfeit will appear ; and in the form of our 
mind it is a true rule, that a man may mend his faults 
with as little labour as cover them. 

The second way is by imitation, and to that end good 
choice is to be made of those with whom you converse ; 
therefore your Lordship should affect their company whom 
you find to be worthiest, and not partially think them 
most worthy whom you affect. 

To attain to health of mind, we must use the same 



272 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

means that we do for the health of our bodies ; that is, to 
take observation what diseases we are aptest to fall into, 
and to provide against them, for physic hath not more 
medicines against the diseases of the body, than reason 
hath preservatives against the passions of the mind. The 
Stoics were of opinion that there was no way to attain 
to this even temper of the mind but to be senseless, and 
so they sold their goods to ransom themselves from their 
evils; but not only Divinity, our schoolmistress, doth 
teach us the effect of grace, but even Philosophy, her 
handmaid, doth condemn our want of care and industry 
if we do not win very much upon ourselves. To prove 
which I will only use one instance : there is nothing in 
nature more general or more strong than the fear of death, 
and to a natural man there is nothing seems more impos- 
sible than to resolve against death. But both martyrs for 
religion, heathen for glory, some for love of their country, 
others for affection to one special person, have encoun- 
tered death without fear, and suffered it without show of 
alteration ; and therefore, if many have conquered pas- 
sion's chiefest and strongest fortress, it is lack of under- 
taking in him that getteth not an absolute victory. To 
set down the ways how a man may attain to the active 
power mentioned in this place (I mean strength of mind), 
is much harder than to give rules in the other two ; for 
behaviour or good form may be gotten by education, and 
health or even temper of mind by observation. But if 
there be not in nature some partner to this active 
strength, it can never be obtained by any industry; for 
the virtues which are proper unto it are liberality or mag- 
nificence, and fortitude or magnanimity ; and some are by 
nature so covetous or cowardly, as it is as much in vain 
to seek to enlarge or inflame their minds, as to go about 
to plow the rocks. But where these active virtues are but 



LORD BACON 273 

budding, they must be ripened by clearness of judgment 
and custom of well-doing. Clearness of judgment makes 
men liberal, for it teacheth men to esteem of the goods of 
fortune not for themselves, for so they are but jailors to 
them, but for their use, for so they are lords over them ; 
and it makes us to know that it is beatius dare quam 
accipere, the one being a badge of sovereignty, the other 
of subjection. Also it leadeth us to fortitude, for it 
teacheth us that we should not too much prize life which 
we cannot keep, nor fear death which we cannot shun; 
that he which dies nobly doth live for ever, and he that 
lives in fear doth die continually; that pain and danger 
be great only by opinion, and that in truth nothing is 
fearful but fear itself ; that custom makes the thing used 
natural as it were to the user. I shall not need to prove 
these two things, since we see by experience it holds true 
in all things, but yet those that give with judgment are 
not only encouraged to be liberal by the return of thank- 
fulness from those to whom they give, but find in the 
very exercise of that virtue a delight to do good. And 
if custom be strong to confirm any one virtue more than 
another, it is the virtue of fortitude, for it makes us 
triumph over the fear which we have conquered, and 
anew to challenge danger which happily we have encoun- 
tered, and hold more dear the reputation of honour which 
we have increased. 

I have hitherto set down what desire or wish I would 
have your Lordship to take into your mind, that is to 
make yourself an expert man, and what are the general 
helps which all men may use which have the said desire ; 
I will now move your Lordship to consider what helps 
your travel may give you. 

First, when you see infinite variety of behaviour and 
manners of men, you may choose and imitate the best ; 



274 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

when you see new delights which you never knew, and 
have passions stirred in you which before you never felt, 
you shall both know what disease your mind is aptest to 
fall into, and what the things are that breed the disease ; 
when you come into armies, or places where you shall see 
anything of the wars (as I would wish you to see them 
before your return), you shall both confirm your natural 
courage, and be made more fit for true fortitude, which 
is not given to man by nature, but must grow out of dis- 
course of reason ; and lastly, in your travel you shall 
have great help to attain to knowledge, which is not only 
the excellentest thing in man, but the very excellency of 
man. 

In manners or behaviour, your Lordship must not be 
caught with novelty, which is pleasing to young men ; nor 
infected with custom, which makes us keep our own ill 
graces, and participate of those we see every day; nor 
given to affection (a general fault of most of our English 
travellers), which is both displeasing and ridiculous. 

In discovering your passions and meeting with them, 
give not way to yourself nor dispense with j^ourself in 
little, though resolving to conquer yourself in great; for 
the same stream that may be stopped with one man's hand 
at the spring head, may drown whole armies of men when 
it hath run long. In your being in the wars, think it 
better at the first to do a great deal too much than any- 
thing too little ; for a young man's, especially a stranger's, 
first actions are looked upon, and reputation once gotten 
is easily kept, but an evil impression conceived at the first 
is not quickly removed. 

The last thing that I am to speak of, but the first that 
you are to seek, is conceived knowledge. To praise know- 
ledge, or to persuade your Lordship to the love of it, I 
shall not need to use many words ; I will only say, that 



LORD BACON 275 

where that wants the man is void of all good ; without it 
there can be no fortitude, for all other darings come of 
fury, and fury is a passion, and passions ever turn into 
their contraries ; and therefore the most furious men, 
when their first blaze is spent, be commonly the most 
fearful ; without it there can be no liberality, for giving 
is but want of audacity to deny, or of discretion to prize ; 
without it there can be no justice, for giving to a man 
that which is his own is but chance, or want of a corrupter 
or seducer ; without it there can be no constancy or 
patience, for suffering is but dulness or senselessness; 
without it there can be no temperance, for we shall re- 
strain ourselves from good as well as from evil, for that 
they that cannot discern cannot elect or choose ; nay with- 
out it there can be no true religion, all other devotion being 
but blind zeal, which is as strong in heresy as in truth. 
To reckon up all parts of knowledge, and to show the way 
to attain to every part, is a work too great for me at any 
time, and too long to discourse at this ; therefore I will 
only speak of such knowledge as your Lordship should 
have desire to seek, and shall have means to compass. I 
forbear also to speak of divine knowledge, which must 
direct your faith, both because I find my own constancy 
insufficiency, and also because I hope your Lordship doth 
still nourish the seeds of religion, which during your edu- 
cation at Cambridge were sown in you. I will only say 
this ; as the irresolute man can never perform any action 
well, so he that is not resolved in soul and conscience, can 
never be resolute in anything else. But that civil know- 
ledge, which will make you do well by yourself, and do 
good unto others, must be sought by study, by conference, 
and by observation. Before I persuade your Lordship to 
study, I must look to answer an argument drawn from the 
nobility of all places of the world, which now is utterly 



276 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

unlearned, if it be not some very few ; and an authority 
of an English proverb, made in despite of learning, that 
the greatest clerks are not the wisest men. The first I 
answer that this want of learning hath been in good coun- 
tries ruined by civil wars, or in states corrupted through 
wealth or too great length of peace. In the one sort men's 
wits were employed in their necessary defence, in the 
other drowned in the study of artes luxuries. But in all 
flourishing states learning hath ever flourished. If it 
seem strange that I account no state flourishing but that 
which hath neither civil wars nor too long peace, I answer, 
that politic bodies are like our natural bodies, and must 
as well have some exercise to spend their humours, as to 
be kept from too violent or continual outrages which 
spend their best spirits. The proverb I take to be made 
in that age when the nobility of England brought up their 
sons but as they entered their whelps, and thought them 
wise enough if they could chase their deer ; and I answer 
it with another proverb made by a wise man, Scientia 
non habet inimicum prceter ignorantem. All men that 
live are drawn either by book or example, and in books 
your Lordship shall find (in what course soever you pro- 
pound to yourself) rules prescribed by the wisest men, and 
examples left by the wisest men that have lived before 
us. Therefore knowledge is to be sought by your private 
study ; and opportunity you shall have to study, if you do 
not often remove from place to place, but stay some time 
and reside in the best. In the course of your study and 
choice of your books, you must first seek to have the 
grounds of learning, which are the fiber al arts ; for with- 
out them you shall neither gather other knowledge easily, 
nor make use of that you have ; and then use studies 
of delight but sometimes for recreation, and neither drown 
yourself in them, nor omit those studies whereof you 



LORD BACON 277 

are to have continual use. Above all other books be 
conversant in the Histories, for they will best instruct you 
in matter moral, military, and politic, by which and in 
which you must ripen and settle your judgment. In your 
study you are to seek two things : the first to conceive or 
understand ; the second to lay up or remember ; for as 
the philosopher saith, discere est tanquam recordari. To 
help you to conceive, you may do well in those things 
which you are to read to draw yourself to read with some- 
body that may give you help, and to that end you must 
either carry over with you some good general scholar, or 
make some abode in the universities abroad, where you 
may hear the professors in every art. To help you to 
remember, you must use writing, or meditation, or both ; 
by writing I mean making of notes and abridgments of 
that which you would remember. I make conference the 
second help to knowledge in order, though I have found 
it the first and greatest in profiting, and I have so placed 
them because he that hath not studied knows not what to 
doubt nor what to ask ; but when the fit tie I had learned 
had taught me to find out mine own emptiness, I profited 
more by some expert man in half a day's conference, than 
by myself in a month's study. To profit much by confer- 
ence, you must first choose to confer with expert men, I 
mean expert in that which you desire to know ; next with 
many, for expert men will be of diverse and contrary 
opinions, and every one will make his own probable, so as 
if you hear but one you shall know in all questions but 
one opinion ; whereas by hearing many, you shall, by see- 
ing the reasons of one, confute the reasons of the other, 
and be able to judge of the truth. Besides, there is no 
one man that is expert in all things, but every great 
scholar is expert in some one, so as your wit shall be whet- 
ted with conversing with many great wits, and you shall 



278 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

have the cream and quintessence of every one of theirs. 
In conference be neither superstitious nor believing all 
you hear (what opinion soever you have of the man that 
delivereth it), nor too desirous to contradict. For of the 
first grows a facility to be led into all kind of error ; 
since you shall ever think that he that knows all that 
you know, and somewhat more, hath infinite knowledge, 
because you cannot sound or measure it. Of the second 
grows such a carping humour, as you shall without reason 
censure all men, and want reason to censure yourself. I 
do conclude this point of conference with this advice, that 
your Lordship shall rather go a hundred miles out of the 
way to speak with a wise man, than iive to see a fair 
town. 

The third way to attain knowledge is observation, and 
not long life or seeing much ; because, as he that rides a 
way often, and takes no care of marks or notes to direct 
him if he come the same again, or to make him know 
where he is if he come unto it, shall never prove a good 
guide ; so he that lives long and sees much, but observes 
nothing, shall never prove a wise man. The use of obser- 
vation is in noting the coherence of causes and effects, 
counsels and successes, and the proportion and likeness 
between nature and nature, force and force, action and 
action, state and state, time past and time present. The 
philosopher did think that all knowledge doth much de- 
pend on the knowledge of causes ; as he said, id demum 
scimus cujus causam scimus ; and therefore a private man 
cannot prove so great a soldier as he that commands an 
army, nor so great a politique as he that rules a state, 
because the one sees only the events and knows not the 
causes, the other makes the causes that govern the events. 
The observation of proportion or likeness between one 
person or one thing and another, makes nothing without 



LORD BACON 279 

example, nor nothing new: and although exempla illus- 
trant non probant, examples may make things plain that 
are proved, but prove not themselves ; yet when circum- 
stances agree, and proportion is kept, that which is proba- 
ble in one case is probable in a thousand, and that winch 
is reason once is reason ever. 



SHAKESPEARE 

(A. D. 1564-1616.) 

The supreme poet, not of the English race alone, but of 
all mankind, William Shakespeare, was born at Stratford-on- 
Avon, in Warwickshire, England, on a day in April, 1564. 
The precise day is not known; but the baptism of the child, 
which no doubt followed birth quickly, is registered April 
24th. His parents were of a modest station in English 
middle-class society, and it is improbable that he received 
more than a quite moderate education; but his genius de- 
manded little from schools. Says James Russell Lowell: 
"Shakespeare was doubly fortunate. Saxon by the father 
and Norman by the mother, he was a representative English- 
man. A country boy, he learned first the rough and ready 
English of his rustic mates, who knew how to make nice verbs 
and adjectives courtesy to their needs. Going up to Lon- 
don, he acquired the lingua aulica precisely at the happiest 
moment, just as it was becoming, in the strictest sense of the 
word, modern. . . . Shakespeare . . . found a language 
already to a certain extent established, but not yet fetlocked 
by dictionary and grammar mongers. . . . What kind of 
culture Shakespeare had is uncertain; how much he had is 
disputed; that he had as much as he wanted, and of what- 
ever kind he wanted, must be clear to whoever considers the 
question." 

About 1585 Shakespeare went from Stratford to London, 
and obtained some kind of employment in connection with a 
theatre, which led to his becoming, first, an actor, and then 
a writer of plays. His earliest original work as a dramatist, 
the comedy of "Love's Labor Lost," was produced on the 
stage in 1589, when Shakespeare was twenty-five years old. 
This was nearly at the middle point of his life ; for he died 
in April, 1616, at just the completion of his fifty-second 
year. The greatest of his works, the tragedy of "Hamlet," 



SHAKESPEARE 281 

was produced about 1G01. His last play, "King Henry 
VIII." (of which he is believed to be the author only in 
part), was produced in 1C12 or 1613. 



THE ADVICE OF POLONIUS TO LAERTES. 

(From " Hamlet, " Act L, Scene 3.) 

There, my blessing with you ! 

And these few precepts in thy memory : 

See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, 

Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 

The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel ; 

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 

Of each new-hatch'd, unnedg'd comrade. Beware 

Of entrance to a quarrel : but being in, 

Bear 't that the opposed may beware of thee. 

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice : 

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not express'd in fancy ; rich, not gaudy : 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man ; 

And they in France of the best rank and station 

Are most select and generous, chief in that. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be : 

For loan oft loses both itself and friend ; 

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

This above all, — To thine own self be true ; 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

Farewell ; my blessing season this in thee ! 



SIR HENRY WOTTON 

(A. D. 1568-1639.) 

Sir Henry Wotton, one of the minor poets of the Eliza- 
bethan age in England, was busied during most of his life in 
diplomatic and other public employments, and had but stolen 
hours to give to literature. He was a man of fine accom- 
plishments, and, having become reduced in fortune, was 
appointed provost of Eton College in 1625. He died in 
1639, at the age of seventy-one. His life was written by 
his friend, Isaac Walton. 

THE HAPPY LIFE. 

(By Sir Henry Wotton.) 

How nappy is lie born and taught 
That serveth not another's will — 

Whose armor is his honest thought, 
And simple truth his utmost skill ! 

Whose passions not his masters are, 

Whose soul is still prepared for death — 

Untied unto the worldly care 

Of public fame or private breath ! 

Who envies none that chance doth raise, 

Or vice ; who never understood 
How deepest wounds are given by praise ; 

Nor rules of state, but rules of good ; 

Who hath his life from rumors freed, 
Whose conscience is his strong retreat ; 



SIR HENRY WOTTON 283 

Whose state can neither flatterers feed, 
Nor ruin make oppressors great ; 

Who God doth late and early pray 
More of His grace than gifts to lend ; 

And entertains the harmless day 
With a religious book or friend. 

This man is freed from servile bands 

Of hope to rise, or fear to fall — 
Lord of himself, though not of lands ; 

And, having nothing, yet hath all. 



BALTHASAR GRACIAN 

(A. D. 1584-1658.) 

Balthasar Gracian, a Spanish Jesuit, was born at Cala- 
tayud, Aragon, in 1584, and died at Tarragona in 1658. 
He was widely known once as a writer of maxims ; but has re- 
ceived little notice from the present generation. Schopenhauer 
esteemed him highly, and a translation of some three hundred 
of Gracian 's aphorisms was found among his papers after his 
death. In Schopenhauer's opinion, Gracian' s book is unique. 
"It teaches," he says, "the art which all would fain practise, 
and is therefore a book for every one; but it is especially 
fitted to be the manual of those who live in the great world, 
and peculiarly of young people who wish to prosper in the 
world. . . . It is a book for constant use as occasion serves 

— in short, to be a companion for life." 

In the "Fortnightly Review" for April, 1877, Sir Mount- 
stuart E. Grant Duff drew attention to the neglected sayings 
of Gracian, translating a considerable number of them. The 
precepts in the selection given below are from this source. 
Recently, Mr. Joseph Jacobs has published a more complete 
translation. 

SELECTIONS FROM THE MAXIMS OF BALTHASAR 
GRACIAN. 

(From translations by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, in the " Fortnightly 
Review," April, 1877.) 

Leave off the game with fortune while you are in luck. 

— That is what all the best players do. A fine retreat is 
worth just as much as a gallant attack. Let a man bring 
his deeds, when there are a great many and enough of 
them, into safety. Felicity which lasts very long was ever 
suspicious. . . . 



BALTHASAR GRACIAN 285 

Have friends. — It is the second existence. E very- 
friend is good and wise for his friend, and among them 
all gets well managed. . . . 

Live with those from whom you can learn. Let 
friendly intercourse be a school of knowledge, and con- 
versation a teaching that may fashion the mind. — 
Make teachers of your friends, and let the profit of learn- 
ing and the pleasure of conversation interpenetrate one 
another. . . . 

Be common in nothing, above all not in taste. . . . 

Never open the door to an evil, however small, for 
other and greater ones will creep in after it from their 
ambush. . . . 

Think with the few, and speak with the many. 

Overcome your antipathies. 

Be able to wait. — . . . First be master of yourself if 
you would be master of others. Only through the spaces 
of time do we come to the centre of opportunity. . . . 
He spake a great word who said, Time and I against 
any two. 

Work with good instruments. — Some are anxious 
that the keenness and subtlety of their wits should be 
conspicuous through the meanness of their instruments, — 
a perilous satisfaction which deserves a punislunent from 
Fate. . . . 

Understand the art of refusing. — ... The No of 
some people is more esteemed than the Yes of others, for 
a gilded No satisfies more than a dry Yes. . . . 

Do not be unsociable. — In the most populous places 
live the true wild beasts. 

Choose a heroic ideal, but rather to emulate than to 
imitate. 

Do not always be jesting. — . . . Many people win 
themselves a reputation for being witty fellows, at the 
cost of their credit for being sensible. . . . 



286 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Drain nothing to the dregs, neither good nor evil. 

Have a stomach able to digest great mouthsful of for- 
tune. 

Dorft be a bore. — The man of one occupation and 
one way of speaking is tiresome. Brevity is fascinating, 
and better suited for business. . . . What is well said is 
soon said. 

Never speak of yourself. — Either you will praise 
yourself, which is vanity, or blame yourself, which is pov- 
erty of spirit. 

Accustom yourselves to the faults in the dispositions 
of those with whom you live, as you do to ugly faces. 

Do not make a business of what is no business. . . . 

Be ivithout affectation. — . . . Do not, however, out 
of fear of affectation, fall into it by affecting to be unaf- 
fected. 

Do not, in trying to escape from the trite, become par- 
adoxical. 

Look into the inside of things. — They are usually 
very different from what they seem. . . . 

Do not believe, and do not love, lightly. 

Let your friends be the friends of your deliberate 
choice. 

ITnow your pet faidts. — ... Even the most perfect 
man does not escape them, and lives with them either as a 
wife or as a mistress. 

Know how to take your own part. — ... In great 
dangers there is no better companion than a bold 
heart. . . . 

Be an honourable opponent. — ... Be able to boast 
that, if gallantry and generosity were lost out of the 
world, men might look for and find them in your breast. 

Know how to choose well. — It is the most important 
thing in life. It needs good taste and a most accurate 



BALTHASAR GRACIAN 287 

judgment, for neither study nor natural intelligence is 
enough. Without choice there is no perfection. ... 

Keep always something behind in store. — ... Even 
in one's knowledge there should be a force in reserve. 

Do not get into a contest with one who has nothing to 
lose. 

Have something left to wish for, so as not to be un- 
happy from very happiness. — ... If there is nothing 
to desire, there is everything to fear. 

Do not turn one piece of stupidity into two. — It is 
very common in remedying one to commit four others. 

Know how to divide your life prudently: not as 
chance woidd have it, but with foresight and choice. . . . 

Know how to ask. — There are some people in dealing 
with whom nothing is so difficult, and some in dealing 
with whom nothing is so easy. 

Do not belong wholly to yourself nor wholly to other 
people. . . . 

Do not despise an evil because it is small; they never 
come alone, but are linked together just like happi- 
ness. . . . 

Know how to do good to people a little at a time and 
often. 

Be able to forget ; it is more apiece of good fortune 
than an art. 

Have no days of carelessness. — Destiny loves to play 
tricks, and will pile chance on chance to take us una- 
wares. 

In one word be a saint. — So is all said at once. Vir- 
tue is the common bond of all perfections, and the centre 
of all felicities. 



FRANCIS QUARLES 

(A. D. 1592-1644.) 

Francis Quarles, religious poet and moralist, was born 
at Rumford, in the English county of Essex, in 1592, and 
died in 1644. He was educated at Cambridge, and studied 
law at Lincoln's Inn. For a time he filled the post of cup- 
bearer to Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia (the unfortunate 
daughter of King James I., of England). Later, he was 
secretary to Archbishop Ussher, and afterwards chronologer 
to the city of London. He espoused the cause of Charles I., 
and was so harassed by the opposite party, who injured his 
property and plundered him of his books and rare manu- 
scripts, that his death was attributed to the affliction and ill- 
health caused by these disasters. The favorite works of 
Quarles, in his own day and since, were the "Divine Em- 
blems," published in 1635, and the "Enchiridion," which 
appeared in 1641. Mr. Sidney Lee, who writes of Quarles 
in the "Dictionary of National Biography," says: "In his 
own day he found very few admirers among persons of liter- 
ary cultivation, and critics of a later age treated his literary 
pretensions with contempt. Anthony a Wood sneered at him 
as t an old puritanical poet, . . . the sometimes darling of 
our plebeian judgment. ' Phillips, in his ' Theatrum Poeta- 
rum ' (1675), wrote that his verses ' have been ever, and 
still are, in wonderful veneration among the vulgar.' Pope, 
who criticised his i Emblems ' in detail in a letter to Atter- 
bury, denounces the book in the ' Dunciad ' (bk. i., 11, 
139-40) as one 

' Where the pictures for the page atone, 
And Quarles is saved hy beauties not his own.' 

Horace Walpole wrote that ' Milton was forced to wait till 
the world had done admiring Quarles.' But Quarles is not 
quite so contemptible as his seventeenth-and-eighteenth-cen- 
tury critics assumed. Most of his verse is diffuse and dull; 



FRANCIS QUARLES 289 

he abounds in fantastic, tortuous, and irrational conceits, and 
he often sinks into ludicrous bathos ; but there is no volume 
of his verse which is not illumined by occasional flashes of 
poetic fire. Charles Lamb was undecided whether to prefer 
him to Wither, and finally reached the conclusion that 
Quarles was the wittier writer, although Wither ' lays more 
hold of the heart' ('Letters,' ed. Ainger, i. 95). Pope 
deemed Wither a better poet but a less honest man. 
Quarles 's most distinguished admirer of the present century 
was the American writer, H. D. Thoreau, who asserted, not 
unjustly, that ' he uses language sometimes as greatly as 
Shakespeare' ('Letters,' 1865)." 



SELECTIONS FROM QUARLES'S "ENCHIRIDION." 

If thou desire not to be too poore, desire not to be too 
rich: he is rich, not that possesses much, but he that 
covets no more : and he is poore, not that enjoyes little, 
but he that wants too much : the contented minde wants 
nothing which it hath not : the covetous mind wants not 
onely what it hath not, but likewise what it hath. 

If thou hast any businesse of consequence in agitation, 
let thy care be reasonable, and seasonable : continuall 
standing bent weakens the bow : too hasty drawing breaks 
it. Put off thy cares with thy cloathes : so shall thy rest 
strengthen thy labour ; and so shall thy labour sweeten 
thy rest. 

With three sorts of men enter no serious friendship: 
the ingratefull man ; the multiloquious man ; the coward : 
the first cannot prize thy favours ; the second cannot keep 
thy counsell ; the third dare not vindicate thy honour. 

If thou desire the time should not passe too fast, use 
not too much pastime : thy life in jollity blazes like a 
tapour in the wind : the blast of honour wastes it, the 
heat of pleasure melts it ; if thou labour in a painful call- 
ing, thou shalt be lesse sensible of the flux of time, and 
sweetlier satisfied at the time of death. 



290 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Reade not bookes alone, but men, and amongst them 
chiefly thy selfe : if thou find any thing questionable there, 
use the commentary of a severe friend, rather than the 
glosse of a sweetlipt flatterer: there is more profit in a 
distastefull truth, than deceitfull sweetnesse. 

If thou desire to take the best advantage of thy selfe 
(especially in matters where the fancy is most imployed) 
keep temperate diet, use moderate exercise, observe sea- 
sonable and set houres for rest ; let the end of thy first 
sleep raise thee from thy repose : then hath thy body the 
best temper ; then hath thy soule the least incumberance. 

If thou art rich, strive to command thy mony, lest she 
command thee : if thou know how to use her, she is thy 
servant : if not, thou art her slave. 

So use prosperity, that adversity may not abuse thee : 
if in the one, security admits no feares ; in the other, de- 
spaire will afford no hopes : he that in prosperity can 
foretell a danger, can in adversity foresee deliverance. 

Be not too greedy in desiring riches, nor too eager in 
seeking them : nor too covetous in keeping them ; nor too 
passionate in losing them. 

In the commission of evill, feare no man so much as 
thy own selfe : another is but one witnesse against thee : 
thou art a thousand : another thou mayst avoid, but thy 
selfe thou canst not. 

In thy apparell avoyd singularity, profusenesse and 
gaudinesse ; be not too early in the fashion ; nor too late : 
decency is the half e way betweene affectation and neglect : 
the body is the shell of the soule ; apparell is the huske of 
that shell ; the huske often tels you what the kirnell is. 

Let thy recreation be manly, moderate, seasonable, law- 
full ; if thy life be sedentary, more tending to the exercise 
of thy body; if active, more to the refreshing of thy 
mind ; the use of recreation is to strengthen thy labour, 
and sweeten thy rest. 



FRANCIS QUARLES 291 

Bee not censorious, for thou know'st not whom thou 
judgest ; it is a more dextrous errour to speak well of an 
evill man than ill of a good man. 

Hath any wronged thee ? be bravely reveng'd : sleight 
it, and the work 's begun ; forgive it, and 't is finisht : he 
is below himselfe that is not above an injury. 

When thy hand hath done a good act, aske thy heart if 
it be well done : the matter of a good action is the deed 
done ; the forme of a good action is the manner of the 
doing: in the first, another hath the comfort, and thou 
the glory ; in the other, thou hast the comfort, and God 
the glory : that deed is ill done wherein God is no sharer. 

Gaze not on beauty too much, lest it blast thee ; nor 
too long, lest it blind thee ; nor too near, lest it burne 
thee : if thou like it, it deceives thee ; if thou love it, it 
disturbs thee : if thou lust after it, it destroyes thee ; if 
vertue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise ; if vice as- 
sociate it, it is the soule's purgatory : it is the wise man's 
bonefire, and the foole's furnace. 

If thou wouldst have a good servant, let thy servant 
find a wise master. 

Use law and physicke only for necessity; they that use 
them otherwise, abuse themselves into weake bodies, and 
light purses : they are good remedies, bad businesses, and 
worse recreations. 

Take no pleasure in the death of a creature ; if it be 
harmlesse or uselesse, destroy it not: if useful!, or harme- 
full destroy it mercifully : he that mercifully made his 
creatures for thy sake, expects thy mercy upon them for 
his sake. , 

Give not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee 
prisoner : A word unspoken is, like the sword in thy scab- 
berd, thine ; if vented, thy sword is hi another's hand : if 
thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy 
tongue. 



292 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Seest thou good dayes ? prepare for evill times : No 
summer but bath his winter. He never reaped comfort 
in adversity, that sowed it not in prosperity. 

Demeane thy selfe more warily in thy study, than in 
the street. If thy publique actions have a hundred wit- 
nesses, thy private have a thousand. The multitude 
lookes but upon thy actions : thy conscience lookes into 
them. 

Of all vices take heed of drunkennesse. Other vices 
make their owne way ; this makes way for all vices. 

If thou seest any thing in thy selfe, which may make 
thee proud, look a little further, and thou shalt find 
enough to humble thee. 

If thou be ignorant, endeavour to get knowledge, lest 
thou be beaten with stripes : if thou hast attained know- 
ledge, put it in practice, lest thou be beaten with many 
stripes. 

So behave thy selfe in thy course of life, as at a banquet. 
Take what is off er'd with modest thankfulnesse : and ex- 
pect what is not as yet off er'd with hopefull patience ; let 
not thy rude appetite presse thee. 



FRANCIS OSBORNE 
(A. D. 1593-1658.) 

Francis Osborne, from whose "Advice to a Son " the 
following injunctions are selected, was an English gentleman 
of ancient family, born in the later years of the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, who lived through the period of the Civil 
War, the Commonwealth, and the Protectorate, nearly until 
the Restoration, adopting the Parliamentary side, in opposi- 
tion to his relatives. He was the author of a number of 
writings, among which the "Advice " received most atten- 
tion. Throughout the eighteenth century it seems to have 
been a book that was considerably known and read. It is 
mentioned by Pepys, by Swift, and by Dr. Johnson. Bos- 
well liked it; but Johnson dismissed it with a contemptuous 
fling. " Were a man to write so now, " said the Doctor, 
"the boys would throw stones at him." 

As late as 1826, we find Henry Crabb Robinson, in his 
"Diary," saying: "Read the first part of Osborne's 'Advice 
to his Son, ' — a book Wordsworth gave to Monkhouse, and 
which, therefore, I supposed to be a favorite. But I found, 
on inquiry, that Wordsworth likes only detached remarks, 
for Osborne is a mere counsellor of selfish prudence and 
caution." 

So recently as 1896, a new edition, "with an introduction 
and notes by his Honour, Judge Edward Abbott Parry, " was 
published in London. Judge Parry speaks of the book with 
the affection of one who "has spent many hours in its com- 
pany and got to love the good in it and ceased to be amazed 
at the evil, as though it were an old friend." 

His fondness is not likely to be shared by many at the 
present day; for there are few kernels of wisdom or wit to 
be picked out of much chaff in it; while the tone and the 
style are equally uninsj)iring. 



294 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

SELECTIONS FROM FRANCIS OSBORNE'S "ADVICE TO 
A SON." 

A few books well studied, and thoroughly digested, 
nourish the understanding more than hundreds but gargled 
in the mouth. . . . 

Follow not the tedious practice of such as seek Wisdom 
only in Learning. . . . 

The way to elegancy of style is to employ your pen 
upon every errand ; and the more trivial and dry it is, 
the more brains must be allowed for sauce. . . . 

Wear your clothes neat, exceeding rather than coming 
short of others of like fortune. . . . 

Never buy but with ready money ; and be drawn rather 
to fix where you find things cheap and good, than for 
friendship or acquaintance. ... If you get nothing else 
by going from one shop to another, you shall gain experi- 
ence. . . . 

Such as are betrayed by their easy nature, to be ordi- 
nary security for their friends, leave so little to themselves, 
as their liberty remains ever after arbitrary at the will of 
others. . . . 

Honesty treats with the world upon such vast disad- 
vantage, that a pen is often as useful to defend you 
as a sword, by making writing the witness of your con- 
tracts. . . . 

Beware ... of thinking yourself wiser or greater than 
you are. Pride brake the angels in Heaven, and spoils 
all heads we find cracked here. . . . 

Shun pride and baseness, as tutors to contempt, the 
first of others, the latter of yourself. . . . 

To whisper with another, in company of your betters, 
is uncivil, and the more eminent the person is, the greater 
suspicion it raiseth. . . . 



FRANCIS OSBORNE 295 

When you speak to any (especially of quality) look 
them full in the face ; other gestures bewraying want of 
breeding, confidence, or honesty. . . . 

Impudence is no virtue, yet able to beggar them all ; 
being for the most part in good plight when the rest 
starve. . . . 

Beware what company you keep, since example prevails 
more than precept. . . . 

Let your wit rather serve you for a buckler to defend 
yourself, by a handsome reply, than the sword to wound 
others. . . . 

Be not the trumpet of your own charity, or vices ; for 
by the one you disoblige the receiver as well as lose your 
reward ; and by the other you alarm the censures of 
men. 



RENE DESCARTES 

(A. D. 1596-1649.) 

Rene Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, was 
a native of Touraine, in France, born in 1596, of an ancient 
and excellent family. When eight years old, he was placed 
in the Jesuit college of La Fle'che, in Anjou, where he re- 
mained for eight and a half years. The result of his studies 
was so to disgust him with the emptiness of the knowledge 
he had acquired that he refused to continue them. He re- 
mained two years at home, and was then sent by his father 
to Paris, where he plunged for a time into the gayeties and 
dissipations of the capital. But he soon tired of so unsatis- 
factory a life, and shut himself up for two years, concealed 
from all his friends, in a small Parisian house, where he 
devoted himself to mathematical studies and philosophical 
meditations. His retreat having been discovered at last, he 
was drawn from it, and put into the army. As the French 
were engaged at the time in no wars, he sought active service 
as a volunteer, first in Holland, under Prince Maurice of 
Nassau, against the Spaniards, and afterwards, at the begin- 
ning of the Thirty Years' War, in the army of the Emperor 
Ferdinand. While in Germany, during the winter of 
1619-20, he was quartered in the town of Neuberg, on the 
Danube, and there, becoming absorbed again in meditations, 
he conceived the idea which he afterwards worked out in his 
famous philosophical "Method." It was based on four 
rules: 1. Never to receive anything as true which did not 
show itself to be clearly so. 2. To divide all difficulties 
into as many parcels as possible, for distinct examination. 
3. To proceed orderly in thought, from the simplest matters 
to the more complicated. 4. To make such complete enu- 
merations and general reviews as to be sure to omit nothing. 
At the same time, he framed for himself what he called a 
provisional set of maxims of life and conduct. These are 
given below. 



RENE DESCARTES 297 

Soon after his winter at Neuberg, Descartes quitted the 
army. He then travelled for a time, before settling himself 
again, as he did, for several years, in Paris. In 1629 he 
went to Holland and resided mostly in that country for 
twenty years. Invited to Stockholm in 1049, by Queen 
Christina of Sweden, he died there a few months later. 

His " Discours de la Me'thode, " which gave a new direction 
to modern thought, was published in 1637, during his stay 
in Holland. It is on this that his fame principally rests, 
though he was author of other treatises, mathematical in the 
main. 



PROVISIONAL RULES OF DESCARTES. 

When one has resolved to rebuild Ms house from the 
foundation, it is not enough to knock the old structure 
down, collect stones and timber, call in an architect or 
make a plan for oneself : one must also, and indeed first, 
seek out some commodious lodging to dwell in till the 
new house is habitable. To this business I therefore forth- 
with addressed myself, and presently laid down my pro- 
visional system of conduct, which consisted of the follow- 
ing three or four maxims : — 

First, I would conform to the laws and customs of my 
country, holding fast by the religion which by God's 
grace had been taught me in childhood, and in other mat- 
ters regulating myself by the customs of those about me, 
giving the preference always to such as lie midway be- 
twixt either extreme. . . . 

My second maxim was, when I had once made up my 
mind, to go stoutly through with it. If you lose yourself 
in a wood, the best course is to take some one path and 
march in a straight line. If this does not carry you 
where you want to go to, it will at any rate sooner or 
later lead you out of the wood. 

My third, to aim at conquering rather my desires than 



298 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

my fortune ; reflecting that what I fail to attain after 
I have done my best must be regarded as simply impos- 
sible, and no more to be lamented over than that my 
body is not so hard as steel, or that I have not the con- 
venience of wings. 

Finally, for an occupation, without disputing the tastes 
of others, I myself will go on as before ; that is to say, I 
will employ my life in cultivating my reason, and advan- 
cing all I can in the knowledge of truth, using the method 
I have prescribed to myself. 



SIR THOMAS BROWNE 

(A. D. 1G05-1682.) 

Thomas Browne, physician and author, was born in Lon- 
don, October 19, 1605. He received his education at Ox- 
ford, Montpellier, Padua, and Leyden. In 1637 he settled 
at Norwich, where he died, on his birthday, October 19, 
1682. He had been knighted by King Charles II., eleven 
years before his death. His most famous work, "Religio 
Medici," was published in 1643. "Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 
or Inquiry into Vulgar Errors, " appeared in 1646, and "Hy- 
driotaphia, or Urn Burial, " in 1658. His "Christian Morals " 
was not published until after his death. It is an expansion 
of a "Letter. to a Friend" written previously, and was prob- 
ably laid aside by the author for some careful revision. 
Neither his thought nor his style are represented at their 
best in it. 

Mr. Saintsbury says of Sir Thomas Browne's writings: 
"The work of this country doctor is for personal savour, for 
strangeness, and for delight, one of the most notable things 
in English literature. . . . His manner is exactly propor- 
tioned to his matter; his exotic and unfamiliar vocabulary 
to the strangeness and novelty of his thoughts. He can 
never be really popular; but for the meditative reading of 
instructed persons he is perhaps the most delightful of Eng- 
lish prosemen." 

SELECTIONS FROM SIR THOMAS BROWNE'S "LETTER 
TO A FRIEND." 

Tread softly and circumspectly in this funambulous 
track and narrow path of goodness ; pursue virtue virtu- 
ously ; be sober and temperate, not to preserve your body 
in a sufficiency to wanton ends, not to spare your purse, 



300 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

not to be free from the infamy of common transgressors 
that way, and thereby to balance or palliate obscurer and 
closer vices, nor simply to enjoy health, by all which you 
may leaven good actions, and render virtues disputable ; 
but, in one word, that you may truly serve God, which, 
every sickness will tell you, you cannot well do without 
health. . . . Sit not down in the popular seats and com- 
mon level of virtues, but endeavour to make them heroical. 
Offer not only peace-offerings but holocausts unto God. 
To serve him singly to serve ourselves, were too partial a 
piece of piety, nor likely to place us in the highest man- 
sions of glory. 

He that is chaste and continent, not to impair his 
strength, or terrified by contagion, will hardly be heroi- 
cally virtuous. . . . 

Be charitable before wealth makes thee covetous, and 
lose not the glory of the mite. If riches increase, let thy 
mind hold pace with them ; and think it not enough to 
be liberal, but munificent. Though a cup of cold water 
from some hand may not be without its reward, yet stick 
not thou for wine and oil for the wounds of the distressed ; 
and treat the poor as our Saviour did the multitude, to 
the relics of some baskets. 

Trust not to the omnipotency of gold, or say unto it, 
Thou art my confidence ; kiss not thy hand when thou 
beholdest that terrestrial sun, nor bore thy ear unto its 
servitude. A slave unto Mammon makes no servant unto 
God. Covetousness cracks the sinews of faith, numbs the 
apprehension of any thing above sense, and, only affected 
with the certainty of things present, makes a peradven- 
ture of things to come ; lives but unto one world, nor 
hopes but fears another; makes our own death sweet 
unto others, bitter unto ourselves ; gives a dry funeral, 
scenical mourning, and no wet eyes at the grave. 



SIR THOMAS BROWNE 301 

If avarice be thy vice, yet make it not thy punishment ; 
miserable men commiserate not themselves, bowelless unto 
themselves and merciless unto their own bowels. Let the 
fruition of things bless the possession of them, and take 
no satisfaction in dying but living rich. For since thy 
good works, not thy goods, will follow thee ; since riches 
are an appurtenance of life, and no dead man is rich ; to 
famish in plenty, and live poorly to die rich, were a mul- 
tiplying improvement in madness, and use upon use in 

folly. 

Persons lightly dipped, not grained in generous honesty, 
are but pale in goodness, and faint-hued in sincerity ; 
but be thou what thou virtuously art, and let not the 
ocean wash away thy tincture. . . . Since few or none 
prove eminently virtuous but from some advantageous 
foundations in their temper and natural inclinations, study 
thyself betimes, and early find what nature bids thee to 
be, or tells thee what thou mayest be. They who thus 
timely descend into themselves, cultivating the good seeds 
which nature hath set in them, and improving their pre- 
valent inclinations to perfection, become not shrubs, but 
cedars in their generation ; and to be in the form of the 
best of the bad,* or the worst of the good, will be no satis- 
faction unto them. 

Let not the law of thy country be the " non ultra " of 
thy honesty, nor think that always good enough which the 
law will make good. Narrow not the law of charity, 
equity, mercy ; join gospel righteousness with legal right ; 
be not a mere Gamaliel in the faith, but let the Sermon 
on the Mount be thy Targum unto the law of Sinai. 

Make not the consequences of virtue the ends thereof ; 
be not beneficent for a name or cymbal of applause, nor 
exact and punctual in commerce for the advantages of 
trust and credit which attend the reputation of just and 



302 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

true dealing ; for such rewards, though unsought for, 
plain virtue will bring with her, whom all men honour, 
though they pursue not. . . . 

Owe not thy humility unto humiliation by adversity, 
but look humbly down in that state when others look 
upward upon thee. Be patient in the age of pride and 
days of will and impatiency, when men live but by inter- 
vals of reason, under the sovereignty of humour and pas- 
sion, when it is in the power of every one to transform 
thee out of thyself, and put thee into the short madness. 
If you cannot imitate Job, yet come not short of Socrates 
and those patient Pagans, who tired the tongues of their 
enemies while they perceived they spat their malice at 
brazen walls and statues. 

Let age, not envy, draw wrinkles on thy cheeks ; be 
content to be envied, but envy not. Emulation may be 
plausible, and indignation allowable ; but admit no treaty 
with that passion, which no circumstance can make 
good. . . . 

Look humbly upon thy virtues, and though thou art 
rich in some, yet think thyself poor and naked without 
that crowning grace, which thinketh no evil, which en- 
vieth not, which beareth, believeth, hopeth, endureth all 
things. With these sure graces, while busy tongues are 
crying out for a drop of cold water, mutes may be in 
happiness, and sing the Trisagium in heaven. 

Let not the sun in Capricorn go down upon thy wrath, 
but write thy wrongs in water ; draw the curtain of night 
upon injuries; shut them up in the tower of oblivion, and 
let them be as though they had not been. Forgive thine 
enemies totally, and without any reserve of hope that, 
however, God will revenge thee. 

Be substantially great in thyself, and more than thou 
appearest unto others ; and let the world be deceived in 
thee, as they are in the lights of heaven. Hang early 



SIR THOMAS BROWNE 303 

plummets upon the heels of pride, and let ambition have 
but an epicycle or narrow circuit in thee. Measure not 
thyself by thy morning shadow, but by the extent of thy 
grave : and reckon thyself above the earth by the line 
thou must be contented with under it. . . . 

Give no quarter unto those vices which are of thine 
inward family, and having a root in thy temper, plead a 
right and property in thee. Examine well thy complex- 
ional inclinations. Raise early batteries against those 
strong-holds built upon the rock of nature, and make this 
a great part of the militia of thy life. . . . 

If length of days be thy portion, make it not thy ex- 
pectation. Reckon not upon long life, but live always 
beyond thy account. He that so often surviveth his 
expectation, lives many lives, and will hardly complain 
of the shortness of his days. Time past is gone like a 
shadow ; make times to come present ; conceive that near 
which may be far off ; approximate thy last times by pre- 
sent apprehensions of them ; live like a neighbour unto 
death, and think there is but little to come. And since 
there is something in us that must still live on, join both 
lives together ; unite them in thy thoughts and actions, 
and live in one but for the other. He who thus or- 
dereth the purposes of this life, will never be far from 
the next, and is in some manner already in it, by a happy 
conformity and close apprehension of it. 

FROM "CHRISTIAN MORALS," BY SIR THOMAS 
BROWNE. 

Comply with some humours, bear with others, but 
serve none. Civil complacency consists with decent hon- 
esty ; flattery is a juggler, and no kin unto sincerity. But 
while thou maintainest the plain path, and scornest to 
flatter others, fall not into self -adulation, and become not 
thine own parasite. Be deaf unto thyself, and be not 



304 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

betrayed at home. Self-credulity, pride, and levity lead 
unto self -idolatry. . . . 

Let not fortune, which hath no name in scripture, have 
any in thy divinity. Let providence, not chance, have 
the honour of thy acknowledgments, and be thy CEdipus 
in contingencies. Mark well the paths and winding ways 
thereof ; but be not too wise in the construction, or sudden 
in the application. . . . Leave future occurrences to their 
uncertainties, think that which is present thy own ; and, 
since 't is easier to foretel an eclipse than a foul day at 
some distance, look for little regular below. Attend with 
patience the uncertainty of things, and what lieth yet 
unexerted in the chaos of futurity. The uncertainty and 
ignorance of things to come, makes the world new unto 
us by unexpected emergencies. . . . 

Though a contented mind enlargeth the dimension of 
little things ; and unto some it is wealth enough not to be 
poor ; and others are well content, if they be but rich 
enough to be honest, and to give every man his due : yet 
fall not into that obsolete affectation of bravery, to throw 
away thy money, and to reject all honours or honourable 
stations in this courtly and splendid world. Old generos- 
ity is superannuated, and such contempt of the world out 
of date. . . . 

When thou lookest upon the imperfections of others, 
allow one eye for what is laudable in them, and the bal- 
ance they have from some excellency, which may render 
them considerable. . . . 

Since virtuous actions have their own trumpets, and, 
without any noise from thyself, will have their resound 
abroad ; busy not thy best member in the encomium of 
thyself. Praise is a debt we owe unto the virtues of oth- 
ers, and due unto our own from all, whom malice hath not 
made mutes, or envy struck dumb. 



THOMAS FULLER 

(A. D. 1608-1661.) 

Thomas Fuller, born at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, in 
1608, having entered Queen's College, Cambridge, at the 
early age of twelve years, became a popular preacher when 
he was twenty, and began very shortly to publish his writ- 
ings. His "Holy and Profane State" appeared in 1642, 
and passed rapidly through four editions. It consists of 
two parts, the former presenting examples for imitation, and 
the latter their opposites. The "Holy State" contains rules 
for the religious guidance of the individual in every relation 
of life, as the husband, father, soldier, and divine. The 
few of these which bear on conduct in the simply moral view 
are quoted below. 

SELECTIONS FROM "THE HOLY STATE." 

Of Company. A desert is better than a debauched 
companion. For the wildness of the place is but uncheer- 
ful, whilst the wildness of bad persons is also infectious. 
Better therefore ride alone than have a thief's company. 
And such is a wicked man, who will rob thee of precious 
time, if he doth no more mischief. . . . 

If thou beest cast into bad company, like Hercules, 
thou must sleep with thy club in thine hand, and stand 
on thy guard. I mean, if against thy will the tempest 
of an unexpected occasion drives thee amongst such rocks ; 
then be thou like the river Dee in Merionethshire in 
Wales, which running through Pimble meer remains en- 
tire, and mingles not her streams with the waters of the 
lake. Though with them, be not of them; keep civil 



306 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

communion with them, but separate from their sins. And 
if against thy will thou fallest amongst wicked men, know 
to thy comfort thou art still in thy calling, and therefore 
in God's keeping, who, on thy prayers, will preserve thee. 

The company he keeps is the comment, by help whereof 
men expound the most close and mystical man; under- 
standing him for one of the same religion, life, and man- 
ners with his associates. And though perchance he be not 
such a one, 't is just he should be counted so for convers- 
ing with them. . . . 

To affect always to be the best of the company, argues 
a base disposition. Gold always worn in the same purse 
with silver loses both of the color and weight ; and so 
to converse always with inferiors degrades a man of his 
worth. . . . 

It is excellent for one to have a library of scholars, 
especially if they be plain to be read. I mean of a com- 
municative nature, whose discourses are as full as fluent, 
and their judgments as right as their tongues ready : such 
men's talk shall be thy lectures. . . . 

Of Anger. Anger is one of the sinews of the soul : he 
that wants it hath a maimed mind, and with Jacob, sinew- 
shrunk in the hollow of his thigh, must needs halt. Nor 
is it good to converse with such as cannot be angry, and 
with the Caspian Sea, never ebb nor flow. This anger is 
either heavenly, when one is offended for God ; or hellish, 
when offended with God and goodness; or earthly, in 
temporal matters : which earthly anger (whereof we treat) 
may also be hellish, if for no cause, no great cause, too 
hot, or too long. 

Be not angry with any without a cause. If thou beest, 
thou must not only, as the proverb saith, be appeased 
without amends (having neither cost nor damage given 
thee), but, as our Saviour saith, "be in danger of the 
judgment." 



THOMAS FULLER 307 

Be not mortally angry with any for a venial fault. He 
will make a strange combustion in the state of his soul, 
who at the landing of every cock-boat sets the beacons on 
fire. To be angry for every toy debases the worth of thy 
anger ; for he who will be angry for anything, will be 
angry for nothing. 

Let not thy anger be so hot, but that the most torrid 
zone thereof may be habitable. Fright not people from 
thy presence with the terror of thy intolerable impatience. 
Some men, like a tiled house, are long before they take 
fire, but once on flame there is no coming near to quench 
them. 

Take heed of doing irrevocable acts in thy passion ; as 
the revealing of secrets, which makes thee a bankrupt for 
society ever after: neither do such things which once are 
done forever, so that no bemoaning can amend them. 
Samson's hair grew again, but not his eyes : time may 
restore some losses, others are never to be repaired. . . . 

Of Recreation. Recreation is a second creation, when 
weariness hath almost annihilated one's spirits. It is the 
breathing of the soul, which otherwise would be stifled 
with continual business. We may trespass in them, if 
using such as are forbidden by the lawyer as against the 
statutes ; physician, as against health ; divine, as against 
conscience. Be well satisfied in thy conscience of the 
lawfulness of the recreation thou usest. . . . 

Spill not the morning (the quintessence of the day) 
in recreations. For sleep itself is a recreation ; add not 
therefore sauce to sauce ; and he cannot properly have 
any title to be refreshed, who was not first faint. Pas- 
time, like wine, is poison in the morning. It is then good 
husbandry to sow the head, which hath lain fallow all 
night, with some serious work. Chiefly, intrench not on 
the Lord's day, to use unlawful sports ; this were to spare 
thine own flock, and to shear God's lamb. 



308 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Let thy recreations be ingenious, and bear proportion 
with thine age. If thou sayest with Paul, " When I was 
a child I did as a child," say also with him, " But when 
I was a man I put away childish things." Wear also the 
child's coat, if thou usest his sports. . . . 

Refresh that part of thyself which is most wearied. If 
thy life be sedentary, exercise thy body; if stirring and 
active, recreate thy mind. But take heed of cozening 
thy mind, in setting it to do a double task under pretence 
of giving it a play-day, as in the labyrinth of chess, and 
other tedious and studious games. . . . 

Choke not thy soul with immoderate pouring in the 
cordial of pleasures. The creation lasted but six days of 
the first week : profane they whose recreation lasts seven 
days every week. 



LA ROCHEFOUCAULD 

(A. D. 1G13-1680.) 

says Mr. Andrew Lang, in his "Let- 
ters on Literature," "was so clever that he was often duped, 
first by the general honest clulness of mankind, and then by 
his own acuteness. He thought he saw more than he did 
see, and he said even more than he thought he saw. If the 
true motive of all our actions is self-love, or vanity, no man 
is a better proof of the truth than the great maxim-maker. 
His self-love took the shape of a brilliancy that is sometimes 
false. He is tricked out in paste for diamonds, now and 
then, like a vain, provincial beauty at a ball. ' A clever 
man would frequently be much at a lofes, ' he says, ' in stupid 
company. ' One has seen this embarrassment of a wit in a 
company of dullards. It is Rochefoucauld's own position in 
this world of men and women. We are all, in the mass, 
dullards compared with his cleverness, and so he fails to 
understand us, is much at a loss among us. ' People only 
praise others in hopes of being praised in turn,' he says. 
Mankind is not such a company of ' log-rollers ' as he avers. 
. . . The Duke is his own best critic after all, when he 
says : ' The greatest fault of a penetrating wit is going be- 
yond the mark.' Beyond the mark he frequently goes." 
He might have said with equal truth that the greatest fault 
of a critical looker-on at life is falling short of the mark; 
and in that, too, he would have touched his own weaknesses. 
He watched the world too shrewdly, too narrowly, not with 
a large enough vision, for real truth-seeking. His place is 
not among the men of wisdom, but where Mr. Lang has put 
him, among the men of cleverness and wit. 

He was of the old French nobility — Duke de la Roche- 
foucauld and Prince of Marcillac ; born at Paris in 1613, 
and dying in 1680. His "Maxims" were first published in 
1665; the earliest English translation of them in 1698. 



310 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Besides these apothegms, he published "Me'moires sur la 
Regence d'Anne d'Austriche." 



SELECTIONS FROM A TRANSLATION OF THE "SEN- 
TENCES ET MAXIMES MORALES " OF THE DUKE DE 
LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. 

The passions have an injustice and an interest of their 
own, which renders it dangerous to obey them, and we 
ought to mistrust them even when they appear most rea- 
sonable. 

It requires greater virtues to support good than bad 
fortune. 

We often make a parade of passions, even of the most 
criminal; but envy is a timid and shameful passion which 
we never dare to avow. 

Jealousy is in some sort just and reasonable, since it 
only has for its object the preservation of a good which 
belongs, or which we fancy belongs, to ourselves, while 
envy, on the contrary, is a madness which cannot endure 
the good of others. 

We have more power than will ; and it is often by way 
of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossi- 
ble. 

Those who bestow too much application on trifling 
things, become generally incapable of great ones. 

Happiness lies in the taste, and not in things ; and it 
is from having what we desire that we are happy — not 
from having what others think desirable. 

We are never so happy, or so unhappy, as we imagine. 

Nothing ought so much to diminish the good opinion 
we have of ourselves as to see that we disapprove at one 
time what we approve at another. 

Sincerity is an opening of the heart: we find it in very 



LA ROCHEFOUCAULD 311 

few people ; and that which we generally see is nothing 
but a subtle dissimulation to attract the confidence of 
others. 

The pleasure of love is in loving. We are happier in 
the passion we feel than in that we excite. 

It is more disgraceful to distrust one's friends than to 
be deceived by them. 

Politeness of mind consists in the conception of honor- 
able and delicate thoughts. 

If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others 
would be very harmless. 

Avarice is more opposed to economy than liberality is. 

Hope, deceitful as she is, serves at least to conduct us 
through life by an agreeable path. 

It is better to employ our minds in supporting the mis- 
fortunes which actually happen, than in anticipating those 
which may happen to us. 

He who thinks he can find in himself the means of do- 
ing without others is much mistaken ; but he who thinks 
that others cannot do without him is still more mistaken. 

A truly virtuous man is he who prides himself upon 
nothing. 

Hypocrisy is the homage which vice renders to virtue. 

Nothing is so contagious as example ; and we never do 
any great good or evil which does not produce its like. 

Flattery is a false coin, which only derives its currency 
from our vanity. 

Magnanimity is well enough defined by its name; 
nevertheless, we may say that it is the good sense of 
pride, and the most noble way of earning praise. 

In jealousy there is more self love than love. 

Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred. 

Little minds are too much hurt b} r little things. Great 
minds perceive them all, and are not touched by them. 



312 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Humility is the true proof of Christian virtues ; with- 
out it we retain all our faults, and they are only hidden 
by pride, which conceals them from others, and often 
from ourselves. 

We should often be ashamed of our best actions if the 
world could see all the motives which produced them. 

We have few faults which are not more excusable than 
the means we take to conceal them. 

The truest mark of being born with great qualities is 
being born without envy. 

We should not judge of a man's merit by his good 
qualities, but by the use he can make of them. 

Quarrels would not last long, if the fault was only on 
one side. 

When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is 
useless to seek it elsewhere. 



LORD HALIFAX 

(A. D. 1630-1695.) 

Of George Savile, first Marquis of Halifax, who held a 
distinguished place among the wiser and better Englishmen 
of the age of the Restoration and the Revolution, Macaulay 
has written in his "History of England:" "Among the 
statesmen of those times Halifax was, in genius, the first. 
His intellect was fertile, subtle, and capacious. His pol- 
ished, luminous, and animated eloquence, set off by the silver 
tones of his voice, was the delight of the House of Lords. 
His conversation overflowed with thought, fancy, and wit. 
His political tracts well deserved to be studied for their 
literary merit, and fully entitled him to a place among Eng- 
lish classics. . . . He always saw passing events, not in 
the point of view in which they commonly appear to one who 
bears a part in them, but in the point of view in which, 
after the lapse of many years, they appear to the philosophic 
historian. . . . His understanding was keen, skeptical, in- 
exhaustibly fertile in distinctions and objections ; his taste 
refined ; his sense of the ludicrous exquisite ; his temper 
placid and forgiving, but fastidious, and by no means prone 
either to malevolence or to enthusiastic admiration." 

Recently, for the first time, the writings of Lord Halifax 
have been published in a collected form, edited with ability 
by Miss H. C. Foxcroft, who had written previously, in the 
" English Historical Review, " of the need of an edition that 
would make them better known. In the article referred to, 
she describes the " Moral and Miscellaneous Maxims " as be- 
ing "sagacious and brilliant, shrewd, incisive, forcible, fla- 
voured with a cynicism which is never after all very bitter, " 
and as embodying the comments of " a keen and not unkindly 
observer, whose experience had been scarcely calculated to 
induce a very exalted opinion of average human nature." 
Of the "Advice to a Daughter," from which some passages 



314 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

are quoted, she wrote: "Addison mentions it among the 
contents of Leonora's library, and we suspect that, till the 
close of the eighteenth century, it was the most popular 
manual for the benefit of young girls. It is certainly the 
most entertaining, since its pages are as remarkable for their 
wit and vivacity as for their strong good sense. His admoni- 
tions, though addressed to the sex in whose education exter- 
nal graces have ever played so prominent and so natural a 
part, show hardly a trace of the foppery — intellectual, 
social, and moral — to which the virile understanding of 
Lord Chesterfield so often stooped. Nor can they be re- 
proached with the laxity which has been made a charge 
against the celebrated 'Letters.' Lord Halifax had lived 
upon terms of intimacy with the most respected women of 
his time — with Catharine of Braganza, with Rachel, Lady 
Russell, with ' Sacharissa, ' Lady Sunderland — and his 
standard of womanly decorum was high to the verge of 
prudery. " 

SELECTIONS FROM LORD HALIFAX'S "MORAL 
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS." 

(From "Life and Works of Sir George Savile, Bart., First Marquis 
of Halifax," by H. C. Foxcroft.) 

Popularity is a crime from the moment it is sought ; 
it is only a virtue where men have it whether they will 
or no. 

An honest man must lose so many occasions of getting, 
that the world will hardly allow him the character of an 
able one. 

There is, however, more wit requisite to be an honest 
man than there is to be a knave. 

There is no such thing as a venial sin against morality, 
no such thing as a small knavery ; he that carries a small 
crime easily, will carry it on when it grows to be an 
ox. . . . 

Mistaken kindness is little less dangerous than premed- 
itated malice. 



LORD HALIFAX 315 

There is so much danger in talking, that a man strictly 
wise can hardly be called a sociable creature. 

Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is very good 
company by the way. . . . 

There can be no entire disappointment to a wise man, 
because he maketh it a cause of succeeding another 
time. . . . 

Where ill-nature is not predominant, anger will be 
short-breathed ; it cannot hold out a long course. . . . 

There is a dignity in good sense that is offended and 
defaced by anger. 

The defending an ill thing is more criminal than the 
doing it, because it wanteth the excuse of its not being 
premeditated. 

There is hardly any man so strict as not to vary a little 
from truth when he is to make an excuse. 

Not telling all the truth is hiding it, and that is com- 
forting or abetting a lie. 

Malice is a greater magnifying glass than kindness. 

Anger may have some excuse for being blind, but mal- 
ice none ; for malice hath time to look before it. 

Malice may be sometimes out of breath, envy never. 
A man may make peace with hatred, but never with envy. 

If men considered how many things there are that 
riches cannot buy, they would not be so fond of them. 
The things to be bought with money are such as least 
deserve the giving a price for them. 

Great reading, without applying it, is like corn heaped 
that is not stirred ; it groweth musty. 

There must be a nice diet observed to keep friendship 
from falling sick ; nay, there is more skill necessary to 
keep a friend than there is to reclaim an enemy. 

Wise venturing is the most commendable part of human 
prudence. It is the upper story of prudence, whereas 



316 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

perpetual caution is a kind of underground wisdom that 
doth not care to see the light. 

To desire what belongeth to another man is misprision 
of robbery. 

A difficulty raiseth the spirits of a great man ; he hath 
a mind to wrestle with it, and give it a fall. A man's 
mind must be very low, if the difficulty doth not make a 
part of his pleasure. The pride of compassing may more 
than compare with the pleasure of enjoying. 

It is a piece of arrogance to dare to be drunk, because 
a man showeth himself without a veil. 

Good manners is such a part of good sense that they 
cannot be divided ; but that which a fool calleth good 
breeding is the most unmannerly thing in the world. 
Right good manners require so much sense that there is 
hardly any such thing in the world. 

He that can be quite indifferent when he seeth another 
man injured, hath a lukewarm honesty that a wise man 
will not depend upon. 

Half the truth is often as arrant a lie as can be made. 

A man who is master of patience is master of every- 
thing else. 

A man that doth not use his reason is a tame beast ; a 
man that abuses it is a wild one. 

Misspending a man's time is a kind of self -homicide ; it 
is making life to be of no use. 



PASSAGES FROM LORD HALIFAX'S "ADVICE TO A 
DAUGHTER." 

(From "Life and Works of Sir George Savile, Bart., First Marquis 
of Halifax," by H. C. Foxcroft.) 

I must tell you that no respect is lasting but that which 
is produced by our being in some degree useful to those 



LORD HALIFAX 317 

that pay it ; where that faileth, the homage and the rev- 
erence go along with it, and fly to others where some- 
thing may be expected in exchange for them. And upon 
this principle the respects even of the children and the 
servants will not stay with one that doth not think them 
worth their care, and the old housekeeper shall make a 
better figure in the family than the lady with all her fine 
clothes, if she wilfully relinquish her title to the govern- 
ment ; therefore take heed of carrying your good breeding 
to such a height as to be good for nothing, and to be 
proud of it. . . . No age ever erected altars to insignifi- 
cant gods, they all had some quality applied to them to 
draw worship from mankind ; this maketh it the more 
unreasonable for a lady to expect to be considered and at 
the same time resolve not to deserve it. Good looks alone 
will not do. . . . 

You are to have as strict a guard upon yourself 
amongst your children as if you were amongst your ene- 
mies; they are apt to make wrong inferences, to take 
encouragement from half words, and misapply what you 
may say or do, so as either to lessen their duty or to 
extend their liberty farther than is convenient. Let them 
be more in awe of your kindness than of your power. . . . 

Your servants are in the next place to be considered ; 
and you must remember not to fall in the mistake of 
thinking, that because they receive wages, and are so 
much inferior to you, therefore they are below your care 
to know how to manage them. It would be as good 
reason for a master workman to despise the wheels of his 
engine because they are made of wood. These are the 
wheels of your family. . . . Besides, the inequality which 
is between you must not cause you to forget that Nature 
maketh no such distinction, but that servants may be 
looked upon as humble friends, and that returns of kind- 



318 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ness and good usage are as much due to such of them as 
deserve it, as their service is due to us when we require 
it. A foolish haughtiness in the style of speaking, or in 
the manner of commanding them, is in itself very unde- 
cent. . . . 

You are never to neglect the duty of the present hour, 
to do another thing which, though it may be better in 
itself, is not to be unseasonably preferred. . . . 

I must not forget one of the greatest articles belonging 
to a family, which is the expense. It must not be such as 
by failing either in the time or measure of it may rather 
draw censure than gain applause. If it was well exam- 
ined, there is more money given to be laughed at than 
for anything in the world, though the purchasers do not 
think so. . . . The art of laying out money wisely is not 
attained to without a great deal of thought. . . . 

In your clothes avoid too much gaudiness ; do not value 
yourself upon an embroidered gown ; and remember that 
a reasonable word, or an obliging look, will gain you more 
respect than all your fine trappings. . . . Fix it in your 
thoughts, as an unchangeable maxim, that nothing is 
truly fine but what is fit. . . . 

Remember that children and fools want every thing, 
because they want wit to distinguish; and, therefore, 
there is no stronger evidence of a crazy understanding 
than the making too large a catalogue of things necessary, 
when in truth there are so very few things that have a 
right to be placed in it. . . . 

I must in a particular manner recommend to you a 
strict care in the choice of your friendships. . . . The 
violent intimacies, when once broken, of which they scarce 
ever fail, make such a noise ; the bag of secrets untied, 
they fly about like birds let loose from a cage, and be- 
come the entertainment of the town. . . . Do not lay out 



LORD HALIFAX 319 

your friendships too lavishly at first, since it will, like 
other things, be so much the sooner spent ; neither let be 
of too quick a growth. . . . 

Avoid being the first in fixing a hard censure ; let it be 
confirmed by the general voice before you give in to it ; 
neither are you then to give sentence like a magistrate, or 
as if you had a special authority to bestow a good or ill 
name at your discretion. . . . 

You are to consider that the invisible thing called a 
Good Name is made up of the breath of numbers that 
speak well of you ; so that if, by a disobliging word, you 
silence the meanest, the gale will be the less strong which 
is to bear up your esteem. . . . 

I must with more than ordinary earnestness give you 
caution against vanity, it being the fault to which your 
sex seemeth to be the most inclined ; and since affecta- 
tion, for the most part, attendeth it, I do not know how 
to divide them. . . . The first may be called the root of 
self-love, the other the fruit ; vanity is never at its full 
growth till it spreadeth into affectation, and then it is 
complete. . . . Vanity maketh a woman tainted with it 
so topful of herself that she spilleth it upon the com- 
pany. . . . 

After having said this against vanity, I do not intend 
to apply the same censure to pride well placed and rightly 
defined. It is an ambiguous word ; one kind of it is as 
much a virtue as the other is a vice ; but we are natu- 
rally so apt to choose the worst that it is become danger- 
ous to commend the best side of it. ... A pride that 
raiseth a little anger to be outdone in anything that is 
good will have so good an effect that it is very hard to 
allow it to be a fault. . . . 

Diversions are the most properly to be applied to ease 
and relieve those who are oppressed by being too much 



320 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

employed ; those that are idle have no need of them, and 
yet they above all others give themselves up to them. To 
unbend our thoughts when they are too much stretched 
by our cares is not more natural than it is necessary, but 
to turn our whole life into a holiday is not only ridiculous 
but destroyeth pleasure instead of promoting it. The 
mind, like the body, is tired by being always in one pos- 
ture ; too serious breaketh it, and too diverting looseneth 
it. It is variety that giveth the relish. 



JOHN LOCKE 

(A. D. 1632-1704.) 

John Locke, the English philosopher, born at Pensford, 
near Bristol, in 1632, was educated at Westminster school 
and at Christ Church, Oxford. After taking his degree 
he had a taste of diplomatic life, being appointed secretary 
to the ambassador to Germany. He was offered diplomatic 
service in Spain, but declined, and returned to Oxford, 
where he studied medicine. 

While in Oxford, Locke formed the habit of writing down, 
for his own eye, such thoughts as occurred to him on subjects 
of special interest. In his old age he wrote to his friend 
Molyneux: "I have often had experience that a man cannot 
well judge of his own notions till either by setting them 
down in paper or in discoursing them to a friend, he has drawn 
them out and, as it were, spread them fairly before him- 
self." 

The following, under the head of "Thus I think," was 
probably written early, and illustrates Locke's theory of life. 
It is given by his first biographer, Lord King. 



THUS I THINK. 
(From the " Life of John Locke," edited by Lord King, vol. ii.) 

It is a man's proper business to seek happiness and 
avoid misery. 

Happiness consists in what delights and contents the 
mind ; misery, in what disturbs, discomposes, or torments 
it. 

I will therefore make it my business to seek satisfac- 
tion and delight, and avoid uneasiness and disquiet ; to 



322 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

have as much of the one, and as little of the other, as may 
be. 

But here I must have a care I mistake not ; for if I 
prefer a short pleasure to a lasting one, it is plain I cross 
my own happiness. 

Let me then see wherein consists the most lasting 
pleasures of this life ; and that, as far as I can observe, is 
in these things: 

1st. Health, — without which no sensual pleasure can 
have any relish. 

2nd. Reputation, — for that I find every body is pleased 
with, and the want of it is a constant torment. 

3rd. Knowledge, — for the little knowledge I have, I 
find I would not sell at any rate, nor part with for any 
other pleasure. 

4th. Doing good, — for I find the well-cooked meat I 
eat to-day does now no more delight me, nay, I am diseased 
after a full meal. The perfumes I smelt yesterday now 
no more affect me with any pleasure ; but the good turn I 
did yesterday, a year, seven years since, continues still to 
please and delight me as often as I reflect on it. 

5th. The expectation of eternal and incomprehensible 
happmess in another world is that also which carries a 
constant pleasure with it. 

If, then, I will faithfully pursue that happiness I pro- 
pose to myself, whatever pleasure offers itself to me, I 
must carefully look that it cross not any of those five 
great and constant pleasures above mentioned. For exam- 
ple, the fruit I see tempts me with the taste of it that I 
love, but if it endanger my health, I part with a constant 
and lasting for a very short and transient pleasure, and 
so foolishly make myself unhappy, and am not true to 
my own interest. 

Hunting, plays, and other innocent diversions delight 



JOHN LOCKE 323 

me : if I make use of them to refresh myself after study 
and business, they preserve my health, restore the vigour 
of my mind, and increase my pleasure ; but if I spend all, 
or the greatest part of my time in them, they hinder my 
improvement in knowledge and useful arts, they blast my 
credit, and give me up to the uneasy state of shame, 
ignorance, and contempt, in which I cannot but be very 
unhappy. Drinking, gaming, and vicious delights will do 
me this mischief, not. only by wasting my time, but by a 
positive efficacy endanger my health, impair my parts, 
imprint ill habits, lessen my esteem, and leave a constant 
lasting torment on my conscience ; therefore all vicious 
and unlawful pleasures I will always avoid, because such 
a mastery of my passions will afford me a constant plea- 
sure greater than any such enjoyments ; and also deliver 
me from the certain evil of several kinds, that by indul- 
ging myself in a present temptation I shall certainly after- 
wards suffer. 

All innocent diversions and delights as far as they will 
contribute to my health, and consist with my improve- 
ment, condition, and my other more solid pleasures of 
knowledge and reputation, I will enjoy, but no farther, and 
this I will carefully watch and examine, that I may not 
be deceived by the flattery of a present pleasure to lose a 
greater. 



WILLIAM PENN 

(A. D. 1644-1718.) 

The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, was the son 
of a British admiral, Sir William Penn, and was bred in the 
aristocratic circles of the English court. London was the 
place of his birth, which occurred on the 14th of October, 
1644, in the midst of the Civil War. He reached manhood 
soon after the Restoration, with every prospect of a career 
that should be gilded by the sunshine of royal favor. But 
in 1668 he made what seemed to be a choice of worldly 
ruin, by embracing the religious doctrines of the despised 
and persecuted sect of Friends, or Quakers. The suffering 
which he shared with his fellows in the humble society of 
George Fox led Penn to interest himself in American coloni- 
zation. He first became one of the proprietors of West 
Jersey, and assisted in establishing Quaker settlements in 
that province; but in 1681 he acquired in his own name 
a more princely domain. For payment of a debt due his 
father he procured from the king a proprietary grant of the 
great territory now covered by the State of Pennsylvania. 
Furthermore, the next year, he joined with other Friends in 
the purchase of the province of East Jersey from the trus- 
tees of Sir George Carteret. Not content with the title to 
Pennsylvania derived from the English king, Penn entered 
into personal treaty with the Indians and purchased their 
territorial rights. Twice during his lifetime, in 1682—84 
and 1699—1701, he visited his province, remaining in all 
some four years. He died in England on the 30th of July, 
1718. 

In the " Life of Penn, " which he prepared for the second 
series of the "Library of American Biography," Mr. George 
E. Ellis classes him with "the very few of the innocently 
great of the earth." "He pursued," says Mr. Ellis, "ex- 
alted aims, drawn from the most advanced attainments of 



WILLIAM PENN 325 

the age in which he lived, and anticipating the light of an 
after time. Three great principles controlled his mind and 
cheered his heart ; reverence for God, love for man, and con- 
fidence in freedom. . . . Penn excelled in the best of human 
qualities. He was free from vice. His natural powers were 
of a high order; his acquired advantages were large and 
various, embracing bodily strength, learning, wisdom, and 
discretion, as the furniture of his mind, with the richest and 
most attractive graces of the heart. As a writer he used 
few images, but employed a wide compass of language. He 
makes constant references to the Scriptures, but always quotes 
them in their natural sense, with no forced applications. 
. . . They who conceive of Penn as a sanctimonious and 
rigid zealot, with a stiffened countenance, a formal garb, and 
a frowning look cast upon the innocent pleasures and good 
things of life, would go wide of the truth. He was quite 
a gentleman in his dress and manner of life, in his furniture 
and equipage. He loved manly sports; he could hunt and 
angle. Dean Swift says, that he ' talked very agreeably and 
with great spirit.' " 

Penn wrote clearly and eloquently, from a full mind and 
a full heart, and he wrote much, chiefly in the way of reli- 
gious appeal and encouragement, or in explanation of the 
beliefs of the Society of Friends. But among his published 
writings there are two which come within the range of the 
gleanings made for this collection. One of these, first pub- 
lished in 1693, under the title of "Fruits of Solitude," 
gave great delight to Robert Louis Stevenson, when he came 
upon it a few years ago. At San Francisco, Stevenson had 
picked up a Philadelphia reprint of the little book, and some 
time afterwards he sent it to a friend, with this note written 
in it: "If ever in all my ' human conduct' I have done a 
better thing to any fellow creature than handing on to you 
this sweet, dignified, and wholesome book, I know I shall 
hear of it on the last day. To write a book like this were 
impossible ; at least one can hand it on — with a wrench — 
one to another. My wife cries out and my own heart mis- 
gives me, but still here it is. . . . Even the copy was dear 
to me, printed in the colony that Penn established, and car- 
ried in my pocket all about the San Francisco streets, read 
in street cars and ferry-boats, when I was sick unto death, 



326 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

and found in all times and places a peaceful and sweet com- 
panion." — "Letters of Stevenson," vol. i. p. 232. 

Possibly the meditations first ripened epigrammatically 
in these " Fruits of Solitude " were simply reconsidered and 
broadened out in the "Advice to his Children," which Penn 
published in 1699. The same spirit, with something more 
of religious warmth in it, is carried to the latter, and the 
essence of the teaching is the same. It is a far finer and 
purer teaching of righteousness for its own sake than was at 
all common in the age to which William Penn belonged. 



SELECTED "REFLECTIONS AND MAXIMS RELATING 
TO THE CONDUCT OF LIFE." 

(From William Penn's « Fruits of Solitude.") 

Lend not beyond thy ability, nor refuse to lend out of 
thy ability ; especially when it will help others more than 
it can hurt thee. 

Frugality is good, if liberality be joined with it. The 
first, is leaving off superfluous expenses ; the last, be- 
stowing them to the benefit of others that need. The 
first without the last, begins covetousness ; the last with- 
out the first, begins prodigality : both together make an 
excellent temper. 

Hospitality is good, if the poorer sort are the subjects 
of our bounty ; else too near a superfluity. 

Love labour : for if thou dost not want it for food, thou 
mayest for physic. 

The receipts of cookery are swelled to a volume ; but a 
good stomach excels them all ; to which nothing contri- 
butes more, than industry and temperance. 

" Let nothing be lost," said our Saviour : but that is 
lost that is misused. 

Choose thy clothes by thine own eyes, not another's. 
If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient ; for more 
doth but rob the poor, and please the wanton. 



WILLIAM PENN 327 

Never marry but for love : but see that thou lovest 
what is lovely. 

He that minds a body and not a soul, has not the better 
part of that relation ; and will consequently want the 
noblest comfort of a married life. 

Between a man and his wife, nothing ought to rule but 
love. Authority is for children and servants ; yet not 
without sweetness. 

Choose a friend as thou dost a wife, " till death separate 
you." 

Be not easily acquainted : lest, finding reason to cool, 
thou makest an enemy, instead of a good neighbour. 

Be reserved, but not sour ; grave, but not formal ; 
bold, but not rash ; humble, but not servile ; patient, not 
insensible ; constant, not obstinate ; cheerful, not light ; 
rather sweet, than familiar ; familiar, than intimate ; and 
intimate with very few, and upon very good grounds. 

If thou hast done an injury to another, rather own it, 
than defend it. One way thou gainest forgiveness ; the 
other, thou doublest the wrong and reckoning. 

If thou thinkest twice, before thou speakest once, thou 
wilt speak twice the better for it. 

Better say nothing, than not to the purpose. 

In all debates, let truth be thy aim ; not victory, or an 
unjust interest : and endeavour to gain, rather than to 
expose, thy antagonist. 

Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders, 
than from the arguments of its opposers. 

It is wise not to seek a secret ; and honest, not to 
reveal one. 

Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee. 

Openness has the mischief, though not the malice, of 
treachery. 

It is not enough that a thing be right, if it be not fit to 



328 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

be done. If not prudent, though just, it is not advisable. 
He that loses by getting, had better lose than get. 

Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment the treasurer, 
of a wise man. 

He that has more knowledge than judgment, is made 
for another man's use, more than his own. 

Where judgment has wit to express it, there is the 
best orator. 

If thou wouldst be obeyed, being a father, being a son, 
be obedient. 

It were endless to dispute upon everything that is dis- 
putable. 

Rarely promise. But, if lawful, constantly perform. 

Be not fancifully jealous ; for that is foolish : as, to be 
reasonably so, is wise. 

If we would amend the world, we should mend our- 
selves ; and teach our children to be, not what we are, but 
what they should be. 

It is not how we leave our children, but what we leave 
them. 

Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains. 

Never give out while there is hope : but hope not be- 
yond reason ; for that shows more desire than judgment. 

Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no 
good. 

Seek not to be rich, but happy. The one lies in bags, 
the other in content ; which wealth can never give. 

If thou wouldst be happy, bring thy mind to thy con- 
dition, and have an indifferency for more than what is 
sufficient. 

Have but little to do, and do it thyself: and do to 
others as thou wouldst have them do to thee : so, thou 
canst not fail of temporal felicity. 

A man, like a watch, is to be valued for his goings. 



WILLIAM PENN 329 

Pie that prefers him upon other accounts, bows to an 
idol. 

We should not be troubled for what we cannot help : 
but if it was our fault, let it be so no more. Amendment 
is repentance, if not reparation. 

Virtue is not secure against envy. Men will lessen, 
what they will not imitate. 

Dislike what deserves it, but never hate : for that is 
of the nature of malice. 

Not to be provoked, is best : but if moved, never cor- 
rect till the fume is spent : for every stroke our fury 
strikes, is sure to hit ourselves at last. 

They that censure, should practice : or else, let them 
heave the first stone, and the last too. 

Nothing needs a trick, but a trick ; sincerity loathes 
one. 

Passion is a sort of fever in the mind, which ever leaves 
weaker than it found us. 

But being intermitting, to be sure it is curable with 
care. 

Be not provoked by injuries, to commit them. 

Tempt no man ; lest thou fall for it. 

Opportunities should never be lost, because they can 
hardly be regained. 

Affect not to be seen, and men will less see thy weak- 
ness. 

We have a call to do good, as often as we have the 
power and occasion. 

Do what good thou canst unknown ; and be not vain 
of what ought rather to be felt than seen. 



330 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

SELECTIONS FROM THE ADVICE OF WILLIAM PENN 
TO HIS CHILDREN. 

Fear God; show it in desire, refraining and doing; 
keep the inward watch, keep a clear soul and a light 
heart. Mind an inward sense upon doing any thing. 
When you read the Scripture, remark the notablest places, 
as your spirits are most touched and affected, in a com- 
mon-place book, with that sense or opening which you re- 
ceive ; for they come not by study or in the will of man, 
no more than the Scripture did ; and they may be lost by 
carelessness and over-growing thoughts, and businesses of 
this life ; so in perusing any other good or profitable book, 
yet rather meditate than read much. For the spirit of a 
man knows the things of a man, and with that spirit, by 
observation of the tempers and actions of men you see in 
the world, and looking into your own spirits, and medita- 
ting thereupon, you will have a deep and strong judg- 
ment of men and things. For from what may be, what 
should be, and what is most probable or likely to be, you 
can hardly miss in your judgment of human affairs ; and 
you have a better spirit than your own in reserve for a 
time of need, to pass the final judgment in important 
matters. 

In conversation, mark well what others say or do, and 
hide your own mind, at least till last, and then open it as 
sparingly as the matter will let you. A just observance 
and reflection upon men and things give wisdom ; those 
are the great books of learning seldom read. The labo- 
rious bee draws honey from every flower. Be always on 
your watch, but chiefly in company ; then be sure to have 
your wits about you, and your armor on ; speak last and 
little, but to the point ; interrupt none ; anticipate none. 
Read Pro v. x. 8, 13. Be quick to hear, slow to speak 



WILLIAM PENN 331 

(Prov. xvii. 27). It gives time to understand, and ripens 
an answer. Affect not words, but matter, and chiefly to 
be pertinent and plain. Truest eloquence is plainest, and 
brief speaking (I mean brevity and clearness to make 
yourselves easily understood by everybody, and in as few 
words as the matter will admit of) is the best. 

Prefer the aged, the virtuous, and the knowing, and 
choose those that excel for your company and friendship, 
but despise not others. 

Return no answer to anger, unless with much meek- 
ness, which often turns it away ; but rarely make replies, 
less rejoinders, for that adds fuel to the fire. . . . Silence 
to passion, prejudice, and mockery, is the best answer, and 
often conquers what resistance inflames. . . . 

Cast up your incomes and live on half — if you can, 
one-third — reserving the rest for casualties, charities, 
portions. 

Be plain in clothes, furniture, and food, but clean, and 
then the coarser the better ; the rest is folly and a snare. 
Therefore next to sin, avoid daintiness and choiceness 
about your persons and houses; for if it be not an evil in 
itself, it is a temptation to it, and may be accounted a nest 
for sin to brood in. 

Be sure to draw your affairs into as narrow a compass 
as you can, and in method and proportion, time and other 
requisites proper for them. 

Have very few acquaintances, and fewer intimates, but 
of the best in their kind. 

Keep your own secrets, and do not covet others ; but if 
trusted, never reveal them unless mischievous to some- 
body ; nor then, before warning to the party to desist and 
repent. Prov. xi. 13, xxv. 9, 10. 

Trust no man with the main chance, and avoid to be 
trusted. 



332 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Make few resolutions, but keep them strictly. 

Prefer elders and strangers on all occasions; be rather 
last than first in conveniency and respect, but first in all 
virtues. . . . 

Above all, remember your Creator; remember your- 
selves and your families, when you have them, in the 
youthful time and forepart of your life ; for good meth- 
ods and habits obtained then will make you easy and 
happy the rest of your days. Every estate has its snare : 
Youth and middle age, pleasure and ambition ; old age, 
avarice ; remember, I tell you, that man is a slave where 
either prevails. Beware of the pernicious lusts of the eye, 
and the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John ii. 15, 16, 17), 
which are not of the Father, but of the world. Get 
higher and nobler objects for your immortal part, oh, my 
dear children ! and be not tied to things without you ; 
for then you can never have the true and free enjoyment 
of yourselves to better things ; no more than a slave in 
Algiers has of his house or family in London. Be free ; 
live at home — in yourselves, I mean — where lie greater 
treasures hid than in the Indies. The pomp, honor, and 
luxury of the world are the cheats, and the unthinking 
and inconsiderate are taken by them. But the retired 
man is upon higher ground, he sees and is aware of the 
trick, contemns the folly, and bemoans the deluded. 

Choose God's trades before men's ; Adam was a gar- 
dener, Cain a ploughman, and Abel a grazier or shepherd. 
These began with the world, and have least of snare, and 
most of use. When Cain became a murderer, as a witty 
man said, he turned a builder of cities, and quitted his 
husbandry. Mechanics, as handicrafts, are also commend- 
able, but they are but a second brood, and younger 
brothers. . . . 

Have but few books, but let them be well chosen and 



WILLIAM PENN 333 

well read, whether of religious or civil subjects. Shun 
fantastic opinions ; measure both religion and learning by 
practice ; reduce all to that, for that brings a real benefit 
to you; the rest is a thief and a snare. And indeed, 
reading many books is but a taking off the mind too 
much from meditation. Reading yourselves and nature, 
in the dealings and conduct of men, is the truest human 
wisdom. The spirit of a man knows the things of man, 
and more true knowledge comes by meditation and just 
reflection than by reading ; for much reading is an op- 
pression of the mind, and extinguishes the natural candle, 
which is the reason of so many senseless scholars in the 
world. 

Do not that which you blame in another. Do not that 
to another which you would not that another should do 
to you; but above all, do not that in God's sight you 
would not man should see you do. 

And that you may order all things profitably, divide 
your day: such a share of time for your retirement and 
worship of God ; such a proportion for your business, in 
which remember to ply that first which is first to be 
done; so much time for yourselves, be it for study, walk- 
ing, visit, etc. ; in this, be first, and let jouy friends know 
it, and you will cut off many impertinences and interrup- 
tions, and save a treasure of time to yourselves, which 
people most unaccountably lavish away. And to be more 
exact (for much lies in this), keep a short journal of your 
time, though a day require but a line ; many advantages 
flow from it. . . . 

Avoid discontented persons, unless to inform or reprove 
them. Abhor detraction, the sin of fallen angels and the 
worst of fallen men. 

Excuse faults in others, own them in yourselves, and 
forgive them against yourselves, as you would have your 



334 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

heavenly Father and Judge forgive you. Head Pro v. xvii. 
9, and Matt. vi. 14, 15. Christ returns and dwells upon 
that passage of his prayer above all the rest — forgiveness 
— the hardest lesson to man, that of all other creatures 
most needs it. . . . 

Love silence, even in the mind ; for thoughts are to 
that, as words to the body, troublesome ; much speaking, 
as much thinking, spends ; and in many thoughts, as well 
as words, there is sin. True silence is the rest of the 
mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nour- 
ishment and refreshment. It is a great virtue ; it covers 
folly, keeps secrets, avoids disputes, and prevents sin. See 
Job xiii. 5 ; Prov. x. 19, xii. 13, xiii. 3, xvii. 28, xviii. 
6,7. 

The wisdom of nations lies in their Proverbs, which are 
brief and pithy ; collect and learn them, they are notable 
measures and directions for human life ; you have much 
in little ; they save time in speaking, and upon occasion 
may be the fullest and safest answers. 

Never meddle with other folks' business, and less with 
the public, unless called to the one by the parties con- 
cerned, in which move cautiously and uprightly, and 
required to the other by the Lord in a testimony for his 
name and truth, remembering that old, but most true and 
excellent proverb : Bene qui latuit, bene vixlt. He lives 
happily that lives hiddenly or privately, for he lives 
quietly. It is a treasure to them that have it ; study it, 
get it, keep it ; too many miss it that might have it ; the 
world knows not the value of it ; it doubles man's life by 
giving him twice the time to himself that a large acquaint- 
ance or much business will allow him. 

Have a care of resentment, or taking things amiss, a 
natural, ready, and most dangerous passion ; but be apter 
to remit than resent, it is more Christian and wise. For 



WILLIAM PENN 335 

as softness often conquers, where rough opposition for- 
tifies, so resentment, seldom knowing any bounds, makes 
many times greater faults than it finds ; for some people 
have out-resented their wrong so far that they made them- 
selves faultier by it, by which they cancel the debt 
through a boundless passion, overthrow their interest and 
advantage, and become debtor to the offender. 

Rejoice not at the calamity of any, though they be your 
enemies (Prov. xvii. 5 ; xxiv. 17). 

Envy none ; it is God that maketh rich and poor, great 
and small, high and low (Psalm xxxvii. 1 ; Prov. iii. 31 ; 
xxiii. 17 ; xxiv. 1 ; 1 Chron. xxii. 11, 12 ; Psalm cvii. 40, 
41) 

Beware of jealousy, except it be godly, for it devours 
love and friendship ; it breaks fellowship and destroys the 
peace of the mind. It is a groundless and evil surmise. 

Be not too credulous. Read Prov. xiv. 15. Caution 
is a medium ; I recommend it. . . . 

Meddle not with government ; seldom speak of it ; let 
others say or do as they please, but read such books of 
law as relate to the office of a justice, a coroner, sheriff, 
'and constable ; also the " Doctor and Student " ; some 
book of clerkship, and a treatise of wills, to enable you 
about your own private business only, or a poor neighbor's. 
For it is a charge I leave with you and yours, meddle not 
with the public, neither business nor money ; but under- 
stand how to avoid it, and defend yourselves, upon occa- 
sion, against it. For much knowledge brings sorrow, and 
much doings more. Therefore know God, know your- 
selves; love home, know your own business and mind it, 
and you have more time and peace than your neighbors. 

If you incline to marry, then marry your inclination 
rather than your interest ; I mean what you love, rather 
than what is rich. But love for virtue, temper, education, 



336 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

and person, before wealth or quality, and be sure you are 
beloved again. In all which, be not hasty, but serious ; 
lay it before the Lord, proceed in his fear, and be you well 
advised. And when married, according to the way of 
God's people, used among Friends, out of whom only 
choose, strictly keep covenant ; avoid occasion of mis- 
understanding, allow for weaknesses, and variety of con- 
stitution and disposition, and take care of showing the 
least disgust or misunderstanding to others, especially your 
children. Never he down with any displeasure in your 
minds, but avoid occasion of dispute and offence ; over- 
look and cover failings. Seek the Lord for one another ; 
wait upon him together, morning and evening, in his holy 
fear, which will renew and confirm your love and cove- 
nant ; give way to nothing that would in the least violate 
it ; use all means of true endearment, that you may re- 
commend and please one another ; remembering your 
relation and union is the figure of Christ to his church ; 
therefore, let the authority of love only bear sway your 
whole life. 

If God give you children, love them with wisdom, cor- 
rect them with affection ; never strike in passion, and suit 
the correction to their age as well as fault. Convince 
them of their error before you chastise them, and try 
them ; if they show remorse before severity, never use 
that but in case of obstinacy or impenitency. Punish 
them more by their understandings than the rod, and 
show them the folly, shame, and undutifulness of their 
faults, rather with a grieved than an angry countenance, 
and you will sooner affect their natures, and with a nobler 
sense, than a servile and rude chastisement can produce. 
. . . There should be the greatest care imaginable, what 
impressions are given to children; that method which 
earliest awakens their understandings to love, duty, so- 



WILLIAM PENN 337 

briety, just and honorable things, is to be preferred. Ed- 
ucation is the stamp parents give their children ; they 
pass for that they breed them. . . . The world is in no- 
thing more wanting and improvable, both in precept and 
example ; they do with their children as with their souls 
— put them out at livery for so much a year. They will 
trust their estates or shops with none but themselves ; but 
for their souls and posterity they have less solicitude. 
But do you rear your children yourselves ; I mean as to 
their morals, and be their bishops and teachers in the 
principles of conversation. . . . 

Be humble ; it becomes a creature, a depending and 
borrowed being that lives not of itself, but breathes in 
another's air, with another's breath, and is accountable 
for every moment of time, and can call nothing its own, 
but is absolutely a tenant at will of the great Lord of 
heaven and earth. And of this excellent quality you 
cannot be wanting, if you dwell in the holy fear of the 
omnipresent and all-seeing God. . . . 

From humility springs meekness. Of all the rare qual- 
ities of wisdom, learning, valor, etc., with which Moses 
was endued, he was dominated by his meekness : This 
gave the rest a lustre they must otherwise have wanted. 
The difference is not great between these excellent graces, 
yet the Scripture observes some. God will teach the 
humble his way, and guide the meek in judgment. It 
seems to be humility perfectly digested, and from a virtue 
become a nature. ... 

Patience is an effect of a meek spirit, and flows from 
it ; it is a bearing and suffering disposition ; not choleric 
or soon moved to wrath, or vindictive ; but ready to hear 
and endure, too, rather than be swift and hasty in judg- 
ment or action. . . . 

Show mercy whenever it is in your power ; that is, for- 



338 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

give, pity, and help, for so it signifies. Mercy is one of 
the attributes of God (Gen. xix. 19 ; Exod. xx. 6 ; Psalm 
lxxxvi. 15 ; Jer. iii. 12). It is exalted in Scripture 
above all his works, and is a noble part of his image in 
man. God hath recommended it (Hos. xii. 6). Keep 
mercy and judgment, and wait on the Lord. God hath 
shown it to man, and made it his duty (Mic. vi. 8). . . . 

Charity is a near neighbor to mercy. It is gener- 
ally taken to consist in this, not to be censorious, and 
to relieve the poor. For the first, remember you must be 
judged (Matt. vii. 1). And for the last, remember you 
are but stewards. Judge not, therefore, lest you be 
judged. Be clear yourselves before you fling the stone. 
Get the beam out of your own eye ; it is humbling doc- 
trine, but safe. Judge, therefore, at your own peril ; see 
it be righteous judgment, as you will answer it to the 
Great Judge. This part of charity also excludes whisper- 
ings, backbiting, tale-bearing, evil surmising, most perni- 
cious follies and evils — of which beware. Read 1 Cor. 
xiii. For the other part of charity, relieving the poor, it 
is a debt you owe to God : You have all you have or may 
enjoy, with the rent-charge upon it. . . . 

Liberality or bounty is a noble quality in man, enter- 
tained of few, yet praised of all ; but the covetous dislike 
it, because it reproaches their sordidness. In this she dif- 
fers from Charity, that she has sometimes other objects, 
and exceeds in proportion. For she will cast her eye on 
those that do not absolutely want, as well as those that 
do ; and always outdoes necessities and services. She 
finds out virtue in a low degree, and exalts it. She eases 
their burden that labor hard to live. . . . 

Justice or Righteousness is another attribute of God 
(Deut. xxxii. 4 ; Psalm ix. 7, 8 ; v. 8 ; Dan. ix. 7), of 
large extent in the life and duty of man. Be just, there- 



WILLIAM PENN 339 

fore, in all things, to all ; to God as your Creator, render 
to him that which is his, your hearts. . . . Render also 
to Caesar that which is his, lawful subjection ; not for fear 
only, but conscience' sake. To parents a filial love and 
obedience. To one another, natural affection. To all 
people, in doing as you would be done by. Hurt no 
man's name or person. Covet no man's property in any 
sort. . . . 

Integrity is a great and commendable virtue. A man 
of integrity is a true man, a bold man, and a steady man ; 
he is to be trusted and relied upon. No bribes can cor- 
rupt him, no fear daunt him ; his word is slow in coming, 
but sure. He shines brightest in the fire, and his friend 
hears of him most when he most needs him. His courage 
grows with danger, and conquers opposition by constancy. 
As he cannot be flattered or frighted into that he dislikes, 
so he hates flattery and temporizing in others. He runs 
with truth, and not with the times ; with right, and not 
with might. His rule is straight ; soon seen, but seldom 
followed. . . . 

Gratitude or thankfulness is another virtue of great 
lustre, and so esteemed with God and all good men. It 
is an owning of benefits received to their honor and ser- 
vice that confer them. It is, indeed, a noble sort of jus- 
tice, and might, in a sense, be referred as a branch to that 
head ; with this difference, though, that since benefits ex- 
ceed justice, the tie is greater to be grateful than to be 
just ; and consequently there is something baser and more 
reproachful in ingratitude than injustice. . . . 

Diligence is another virtue useful and laudable among 
men. It is a discreet and understanding application of 
one's self to business ; and avoids the extremes of idleness 
and drudgery. It gives great advantages to men; it loses 
no time, it conquers difficulties, recovers disappointments, 



340 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

gives dispatch, supplies want of parts ; and is that to them 
which a pond is to a spring ; though it has no water of it- 
self, it will keep what it gets, and is never dry. ... It 
belongs to you throughout your whole man ; be no more 
sauntering in your minds than in your bodies. And if 
you woidd have the full benefit of this virtue, do not balk 
it by a confused mind. Shun diversions ; think only of 
the present business, till that be done. Be busy to pur- 
pose ; for a busy man and a man of business are two dif- 
ferent things. Lay your matters right, and diligence suc- 
ceeds them, else pains are lost. How laborious are some 
to no purpose ! Consider your end well ; suit your means 
to it, and then diligently employ them, and you arrive 
where you would be, with God's blessing. . , . 

Frugality is a virtue, too, and not of little use in life ; 
the better way to be rich, for it has less toil and tempta- 
tion. It is proverbial, a penny saved is a penny got. It 
has a significant moral ; for this way of getting is more in 
your own power, and less subject to hazard, as w r ell as 
snares, free of envy, void of suits, and is beforehand with 
calamities. For many get that cannot keep, and for want 
of frugality spend what they get, and so come to want 
what they have spent. But have a care of the extreme. 
... As I would have you liberal but not prodigal, and 
diligent but not drudging, so I would have you frugal but 
not sordid. . . . 

Temperance I most earnestly recommend to you 
throughout the whole course of your lives. It is num- 
bered amongst the fruits of the spirit (Gal. v. 23), and is 
a great and requisite virtue. Properly and strictly speak- 
ing, it refers to diet, but, in general, may be considered 
as having relation to all the affections and practices of 
men. . . . Bound your desires, teach your will subjec- 
tion, take Christ for your example as well as guide. It 



WILLIAM PENN 341 

was he that led and taught a life and faith in Providence, 
and told his disciples the danger of the cares and pleas- 
ures of this world ; they choked the seed of the kingdom, 
stifled and extinguished virtue in the soul, and rendered 
man barren of good fruit. His sermon upon the mount 
is one continued, divine authority in favor of an universal 
temperance. 



FENELON 

(A. D. 1651-1715.) 

Francois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon, one of 
the saintliest and most liberal-minded of French divines, was 
born on the 6th of August, 1651, at the Chateau de Fenelon, 
in Dordogne, southwestern France. He received holy orders 
about 1675 ; became preceptor of the sons of the Dauphin in 
1689, was admitted to the French Academy in 1693, and 
made Archbishop of Cambray in 1695. His most celebrated 
work, " Les Aventures de Tele'maque, " was composed for his 
royal pupils, but not published until 1699. In close friend- 
ship with Madame Guyon and in sympathy with her doc- 
trines, he was denounced as a heretic by Bossuet, and com- 
pelled to recant. His purity of character was conspicuous 
in the corrupted France of his day, and his personal influence 
upon the better spirits of the time was very great. He died 
at Cambray on the 7th of January, 1715. 

"Seldom has a purer mind tabernacled in flesh. He pro- 
fessed to believe in an infallible church ; but he listened 
habitually to the voice of God within him, and speaks of this 
in language so strong as to have given the Quakers some plea 
for ranking him among themselves. . . . His works have 
the great charm of coming fresh from the soul. He wrote 
from experience, and hence, though he often speaks a lan- 
guage which must seem almost a foreign one to men of the 
world, yet he always speaks in a tone of reality. . . . 
Fe'nelon saw far into the human heart and especially into the 
lurkings of self-love. He looked with a piercing eye through 
the disguises of sin. But he knew sin, not, as most men 
do, by bitter experience of its power, so much as by his know- 
ledge and experience of virtue. Deformity was revealed to 
him by his refined perception and intense love of moral 
beauty. The light which he carried with him into the dark 
corners of the human heart, and by which he laid open its 



FENELON 343 

most hidden guilt, was that of celestial goodness. Hence, 
though the severest of censors, he is the most pitying. Not 
a tone of asperity escapes him." — Dr. William E. Chai- 
ning, " Remarks on the Character and Writings of Fe'nelon " 
("Works," v. L). 



FtfNELON'S "RULES FOR A CHRISTIAN LIFE." 
(From " Letters to Men," No. xviii.) 

I. Be stedf ast in your religious exercises ; that is, in 
reading, daily meditation, regular confession, and com- 
munion. 

II. Let your meditation alwa}^ be systematic, and 
suited to your needs, with a view to mental humility and 
the repression of bodily sensuality. 

III. Let your reading have a practical bearing, and 
tend to the correction of your faults. Apply all you read 
to yourself. 

IV. Be careful as to the society you frequent habitu- 
ally, and be specially on your guard as to the women 
with whom you are intimate. 

V. Avoid harsh judgments of others, and let the re- 
collection of your own faults hinder you from fastidious- 
ness and censoriousness. 

VI. Accustom yourself to withhold judgment in all 
things on which you are not obliged to pronounce. The 
habit of judging hastily, especially in an adverse sense, 
fosters rash judgments, presumption, a harsh, malicious 
criticism, reliance on self, and contempt for the opinions 
of others, all of which are out of keeping with the interior 
life, in which gentleness and humility are needful. 

VII. Shun the dissipation which sudden fancies al- 
ways involve. Such an engouement, to begin with, is too 
engrossing: it absorbs and chokes the inner life; then 



344 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

something else takes its place, and life is spent in a suc- 
cession of such fancies. When an engouement is in its 
first stage, let it cool down, and pray over it ; then when 
somewhat abated, use it moderately, and so far as will not 
harm you. 

VIII. Never seek to change your position out of 
anxiety, depression, a false shame, or the itching desire 
to be somebody (defaire unpersonnage). All the states 
of life which you have not tried have their thorns and 
snares and weariness, only you do not see them from with- 
out. " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. To- 
morrow will take care for the things of itself." For to-day 
think only of to-day. 



MASSILLON 

(A. D. 1663-1742.) 

Jean Baptiste Massillon, one of the most eminent pul- 
pit orators of France, was a native of Provence, born at 
Hyeres, in 1663. Educated by the fathers of the Congrega- 
tion of the Oratory, he entered that order in 1681, and was 
engaged for some years in teaching. His success as a lec- 
turer drew him to the pulpit, where he acquired great fame. 
In 1717 he was made bishop of Clermont, and in 1719 he 
was elected a member of the Academy. He died at Cler- 
mont in 1742. The works left by him are mostly sermons, 
which are among the classics of French religious literature. 
The passages subjoined are from a volume of translated 
selections from Massillon's writings. 



THE USE OF TIME. 
(From Selections from the Works of Jean Baptiste Massillon.) 

The cause of all the evils, which reign amongst men, is 
the improper use they make of time. Some pass their 
lives in supine indolence, useless to their country, their 
fellow citizens, and themselves ; others, in a tumult of 
human affairs and occupations : the former seem to exist 
but for the enjoyment of an unworthy repose, and to 
divest themselves of that listlessness by their diversions, 
which accompanies them everywhere ; the latter, as if 
here only to agitate themselves incessantly with cares, 
which will disengage them from themselves. It appears, 
that time is a common enemy, against which all men con- 
spire ; all their lives are but a deplorable attention to 



346 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

make away with it, and the happiest appear to be those 
who succeed the best, in whatever way they find the 
pleasantest, either in frivolous pleasures, or in serious oc- 
cupations, that can beguile them of their days and mo- 
ments. Time, that precious deposit, which the Lord has 
confided to us, thus becomes a wearisome burden ; yet we 
fear being deprived of it, as the last evil that can happen 
to us. It is a treasure that we would retain eternally, 
and yet can hardly endure it on our hands. 

We should look upon a man as deranged, who in suc- 
ceeding to an immense inheritance, dissipated it carelessly, 
making no other use of it, either to raise himself from 
obscurity to places and dignities, or to secure himself 
against the reverses of fortune. Time is this precious 
treasure we have inherited from our births, which the 
Lord, in his gracious mercy, has left in our hands, to 
make the best use of. It is not to raise us to frivolous 
honours and human greatness, alas ! all this passes, and 
is too vile to be the price of time, which is itself the price 
of eternity! It is to place us by Jesus Christ, in the 
highest heavens. . . . 

There is not a day, an hour, a moment, which, put to 
profitable use, might not gain us heaven ! We ought, 
therefore, to regret the loss of one day, a thousand times 
more acutely, than the loss of a great fortune ; neverthe- 
less, time, that ought to be so precious, encumbers us ; 
our life is but a continual contrivance to lose it, and in 
spite of all our attempts to get rid of it, there is always 
some left we know not what to do with ; we consider our 
time as of the least consequence upon earth. Our offices 
we reserve for our friends, our benefits, for our inferiors ; 
our property, for our relations and children ; our credit 
and favour, for ourselves ; our praises, for those who 
appear worthy of them ; but our time we give to all the 



MASSILLON 347 

world ! we expose it, I may say, a prey to every man ! 
they even gratify in relieving us from an incumbrance, 
we are seeking incessantly to get rid of. Thus, the gift 
of God, the most valuable blessing of his clemency, and 
the price of eternity, becomes the embarrassment and 
heaviest oppression of our lives. 



DEAN SWIFT 

(A. D. 1667-1745.) 

Says Mr. Gosse, in his "History of Eighteenth Century 
[English] Literature:" "Jonathan Swift, 'the great Irish 
patriot, ' had nothing Irish about him except the accident of 
being born in Dublin. His father was a Herefordshire man, 
and his mother was a Leicestershire woman. The elder 
Jonathan Swift was made steward to the Society of the 
King's Inns, Dublin, in 1666, and there died about a year 
afterwards. Some months later his widow bore him a post- 
humous son, the 30th of November, 1667, and this was the 
famous writer." Swift's mother was a relative of Sir Wil- 
liam Temple, and found a patron for her son in that much 
esteemed gentleman. He entered the Church, but remained 
in Sir William's service and in his household during most 
of the time for ten years. 

Swift's literary career may be said to have begun in 1696 
or 1697, when the "Tale of a Tub," one of the most remark- 
able of his satires, and "The Battle of the Books," scarcely 
inferior to it, were written. "Gulliver's Travels," the most 
famous of his works, did not appear until 1726, though he 
had probably been engaged upon it for some years. 

The great satirist was never distinguished for good man- 
ners ; yet he wrote a treatise on that subject, in which the 
fundamental principles of politeness are pithily set forth. 
Some passages from it are subjoined. 

DEAN SWIFT ON GOOD MANNERS. 

Good manners is the art of making those people easy 
with whom we converse. 

Whoever makes the fewest persons uneasy is the best 
bred in the company. 



DEAN SWIFT 349 

As the best law is founded upon reason, so are the 
best manners. And as some lawyers have introduced un- 
reasonable things into common law, so likewise many 
teachers have introduced absurd things into common good 
manners. 

Pride, ill nature, and want of sense, are the three great 
sources of ill manners ; without some one of these defects, 
no man will behave himself ill for want of experience, or 
of what, in the language of fools, is called knowing the 
world. 

I defy any one to assign an incident wherein reason 
will not direct us what to say or do in company, if we are 
not misled by pride or ill nature. 

Therefore I insist that good sense is the principal 
foundation of good manners ; but because the former is 
a gift which very few among mankind are possessed of, 
therefore all the civilized nations of the world have 
agreed upon fixing some rules upon common behaviour, 
best suited to their general customs or fancies, as a 
kind of artificial good sense, to supply the defects of 
reason. . . . 

As the common forms of good manners were intended 
for regulating the conduct of those who have weak under- 
standings ; so they have been corrupted by the persons 
for whose use they were contrived. For these people have 
fallen into a needless and endless way of multiplying cere- 
monies, which have been extremely troublesome to those 
who practise them, and are insupportable to everybody 
else : insomuch that wise men are often more uneasy at 
the over-civility of these refiners, than they could possibly 
be in the conversation of peasants or mechanics. 

There is a pedantry in manners, as in all arts and 
sciences: and sometimes in trades. Pedantry is properly 
the over-rating of any kind of knowledge we pretend to. 



350 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

And if that kind of knowledge be a trifle in itself, the 
pedantry is the greater. . . . 

A necessary part of good manners, is a punctual ob- 
servance of time at our own dwellings, or those of others, 
or at third places ; whether upon matter of civility, busi- 
ness, or diversion. ... If you duly observe time for the 
service of another, it doubles the obligation ; if upon your 
own account, it would be manifest folly, as well as ingra- 
titude, to neglect it ; if both are concerned, to make your 
equal or inferior attend on you to his own disadvantage, 
is pride and injustice. 

Ignorance of forms cannot properly be styled ill man- 
ners ; because forms are subject to frequent changes ; and 
consequently, being not founded upon reason, are beneath 
a wise man's regard. Besides, they vary in every country ; 
and after a short period of time, very frequently in the 
same. . . . 

Among the many impertinencies that superficial young 
men bring with them from abroad, this bigotry of forms 
is one of the principal, and more predominant than the 
rest ; who look upon them not only as if they were mat- 
ters capable of admitting of choice, but even as points of 
importance ; and are therefore zealous on all occasions to 
introduce and propagate the new forms and fashions they 
have brought back with them ; so that, usually speaking, 
the worst bred person in company is a young traveller 
just returned from abroad. 



ADDISON 

(A. D. 1672-1719.) 

Joseph Addison was born on the 1st of May, 1672. He 
was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison, at the time of his 
birth rector of Milston, near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, and 
afterwards Dean of Lichfield. He was in school at Ames- 
bury, Salisbury, Lichfield, and finally at the Charter House, 
from which he passed into Queen's College, Oxford. He 
formed, however, a more permanent connection with Magda- 
len College, which elected him, in 1698, to a fellowship that 
he retained until 1711. The influence of Lord Halifax, 
whose acquaintance he made at an early period, had much 
to do with the shaping of his life, diverting him from the 
Church and devoting him to literature. The same potent 
influence procured for him a pension of £300 a year, in 
1699, which placed him at his ease. He travelled on the 
continent for three years, from 1700 to 1703. In 1706 he 
entered public office, under the Whig ministry of the day, 
as under-secretary of state, and he continued in public em- 
ployments during much of the remainder of his life, becoming 
secretary of state in 1717. In the previous year he had 
married the Countess of Warwick. He died at Holland 
House in 1719, at the early age of forty-seven. 

The most important work of Addison was done in connec- 
tion with "The Spectator," a daily periodical, purely liter- 
ary in character, but with high moral aims, which Addison 
and Steele conducted jointly during most of the two years 
1711 and 1712. It is with reference especially to his de- 
lightful essays in "The Spectator" that Macaulay speaks of 
Addison as "the great satirist who alone knew how to use 
ridicule without abusing it ; who, without inflicting a wound, 
effected a great social reform, and who reconciled wit and 
virtue, after a long and disastrous separation, during which 
wit had been led astray by profligacy, and virtue by fanati- 



352 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

cism." "To estimate Addison at his real value," says Mr. 
Courthorpe, one of his latest biographers, "we must regard 
him as the chief architect of Public Opinion in the eighteenth 
century. . . . The work of Addison consisted in building up 
a public opinion which, in spite of its durable solidity, seems, 
like the great Gothic cathedrals, to absorb into itself the in- 
dividuality of the architect. A vigorous effort of thought is 
required to perceive how strong this individuality must have 
been. We have to reflect on the ease with which, even in 
these days, when the foundations of all authority are called 
in question, we form judgments on questions of morals, breed- 
ing, and taste, and then to dwell in imagination on the state 
of conflict in all matters religious, moral, and artistic, which 
prevailed in the period between the Restoration and the suc- 
cession of the House of Hanover. To whom do we owe the 
comparative harmony we enjoy ? Undoubtedly to the authors 
of ' The Spectator, ' and first among these by universal consent 
to Addison." 



METHODS FOR FILLING UP EMPTY SPACES OF LIFE. 
(From " The Spectator," Nos. 93-94, June 16, 18, 1711.) 

If we divide the life of most men into twenty parts, we 
shall find that at least nineteen of them are mere gaps 
and chasms, which are neither filled with pleasure nor 
business. I do not however include in this calculation 
the life of those men who are in a perpetual hurry of 
affairs, but of those only who are not always engaged in 
scenes of action ; and I hope I shall not do an unaccept- 
able piece of service to these persons, if I point out to 
them certain methods for the filling up their empty spaces 
of life. The methods I shall propose to them are as 
follow. 

The first is the exercise of virtue, in the most general 
acceptation of the word. That particular scheme which 
comprehends the social virtues, may give employment to 
the most industrious temper, and find a man in business 



ADDISON 353 

more than the most active station in life. To advise the 
ignorant, relieve the needy, comfort the afflicted, are 
duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives. 
A man has frequent opportunities of mitigating the fierce- 
ness of a party ; of doing justice to the character of a 
deserving man ; of softening the envious, quieting the 
angry, and rectifying the prejudiced ; which are all of 
them employments suited to a reasonable nature, and 
bring great satisfaction to the person who can busy him- 
self in them with discretion. 

There is another kind of virtue that may find employ- 
ment for those retired hours in which we are altogether 
left to ourselves, and destitute of company and conversa- 
tion ; I mean that intercourse and communication which 
every reasonable creature ought to maintain with the 
great Author of his being. The man who lives under an 
habitual sense of the divine presence keeps up a perpetual 
cheerfulness of temper, and enjoys every moment the sat- 
isfaction of thinking himself in company with his dearest 
and best of friends. The time never lies heavy upon him ; 
it is impossible for him to be alone. . . . 

I have here only considered the necessity of a man's 
being virtuous, that he may have something to do ; but 
if we consider further, that the exercise of virtue is not 
only an amusement for the time it lasts, but that its 
influence extends to those parts of our existence which 
lie beyond the grave, and that our whole eternity is to 
take its colour from those hours which we here employ 
in virtue or in vice, the argument redoubles upon us, 
for putting in practice this method of passing away our 
time. 

When a man has but a little stock to improve, and has 
opportunities of turning it all to good account, what shall 
we think of him if he suffers nineteen parts of it to he 



354 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

dead, and perhaps employs even the twentieth to his ruin 
or disadvantage ? But because the mind cannot be always 
in its fervours, nor strained up to a pitch of virtue, it is 
necessary to find out proper employments for it in its re- 
laxations. 

The next method therefore that I would propose to fill 
up our time, should be useful and innocent diversions. I 
must confess I think it is below reasonable creatures to 
be altogether conversant in such diversions as are merely 
innocent, and have nothing else to recommend them, but 
that there is no hurt in them. Whether any kind of 
gaming has even thus much to say for itself, I shall not 
determine ; but I think it very wonderful to see persons 
of the best sense passing away a dozen hours together in 
shuffling and dividing a pack of cards, with no other con- 
versation but what is made up of a few game phrases, and 
no other ideas but those of black or red spots ranged 
together in different figures. Would not a man laugh 
to hear any one of this species complaining that life is 
short ? 

The stage might be made a perpetual source of the 
most noble and useful entertainments, were it under pro- 
per regulations. 

But the mind never unbends itself so agreeably as in 
the conversation of a well-chosen friend. There is indeed 
no blessing of life that is in any way comparable to the 
enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and 
unloads the mind, clears and improves the understanding, 
engenders thoughts and knowledge, animates virtue and 
good resolutions, soothes and allays the passions, and finds 
employment for most of the vacant hours of life. 

Next to such an intimacy with a particular person, one 
would endeavour after a more general conversation with 
such as are able to entertain and improve those with 



ADDISON 355 

whom they converse, which are qualifications that seldom 
go asunder. 

There are many other useful amusements of life which 
one would endeavour to multiply, that one might on all 
occasions have recourse to something, rather than suffer 
the mind to lie idle, or run adrift with any passions that 
chance to rise in it. 

A man that has a taste of music, painting, or architec- 
ture, is like one that has another sense, when compared 
with such as have no relish of those arts. The florist, the 
planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they are 
only as accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great 
reliefs to a country life, and many ways useful to those 
who are possessed of them. 

But of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper 
to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and 
entertaining authors. . . . 

The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas, 
as those of a fool are by his passions. The time of the 
one is long, because he does not know what to do with it ; 
so is that of the other, because he distinguishes every 
moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts ; or, in 
other words, because the one is always wishing it away, 
and the other always enjoying it. 

How different is the view of past life, in the man who 
is grown old in knowledge and wisdom, from that of him 
who is grown old in ignorance and folly ! The latter is 
like the owner of a barren country, that fills his eye with 
the prospect of naked hills and plains, which produce no- 
thing either profitable or ornamental ; the other beholds 
a beautiful and spacious landscape divided into delightful 
gardens, green meadows, fruitful fields, and can scarce 
cast his eye on a single spot of his possessions, that is not 
covered with some beautiful plant or flower. 



KING STANISLAUS OF POLAND 

(A. D. 1677-1766.) 

Stanislaus Leszczynski, or Leszinski, son of a Grand 
Treasurer of Poland, was elected to the throne of that coun- 
try, in 1705, through the influence of Charles XII. of Swe- 
den, and lost his kingship four years later, after Charles's 
defeat at Pultowa. He was called again to the throne in 
1733, and stepped down from it again in 1735, retaining the 
title, and being invested, in 1737, with the duchies of Lor- 
raine and Bar. His daughter was married to Louis XV. of 
France, and he enjoyed the favor of the French court. He 
gained some distinction, too, as a man of letters in France, 
being, indeed, better fitted for a studious and literary life 
than for public affairs. A collection of his writings was pub- 
lished in 1765 — the year before his death — under the title 
of "Works of the Benevolent Philosopher." He is said to 
have realized quite consistently in his own character the ideal 
philosopher whose qualities are described in one of his works. 
"The true philosopher," he wrote, "is exempt from preju- 
dices ; he must know how to estimate the great conditions of 
life at no more than their worth, and its lower conditions at 
no less than they are. He must enjoy pleasures without 
being their slave, riches without being dependent on them, 
honors without pride and without display. He must be 
always the same, in every state of fortune ; he must be always 
tranquil; he must love order, and put it into all that he 
does." 

TRAITS OF MORAL COURAGE IN EVERY-DAY LIFE. 

(By Stanislaus, King of Poland.) 

Have the courage to discharge a debt, while you have 
the money in your pocket. 



KING STANISLAUS OF POLAND 357 

Have the courage to do without that which you do not 
need, however much you may admire it. 

Have the courage to speak your mind when it is neces- 
sary that you should do so, and to hold your tongue when 
it is better that you should be silent. 

Have the courage to speak to a friend in a "seedy" 
coat, even in the street, and when a rich one is nigh ; the 
effort is less than many people take it to be, and the act 
is worthy a king. 

Have the courage to set down every penny you spend, 
and add it up weekly. 

Have the courage to pass your host's lackey at the 
door, without giving him a shilling, when you know you 
cannot afford it, and, what is more, that the man has not 
earned it. 

Have the courage to own that you are poor, and you 
disarm poverty of its sharpest sting. 

Have the courage to laugh at your personal defects, 
and the world will be deprived of that pleasure, by being 
reminded of their own. 

Have the courage to admit that you have been in the 
wrong, and you will remove the fact from the mind of 
others, putting a desirable impression in the place of an 
unfavorable one. 

Have the courage to adhere to a first resolution, when 
you cannot change it for a better, and to abandon it at 
the eleventh hour, upon conviction. 

Have the courage to acknowledge your age to a day, 
and to compare it with the average life of man. Have 
the courage to make a will, and what is more, a just one. 

Have the courage to face a difficulty, lest it kick you 
harder than you bargain for : difficulties, like thieves, 
often disappear at a glance. 

Have the courage to avoid accommodation bills, how- 



358 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ever badly you want money ; and to decline pecuniary 
assistance from your dearest friend. 

Have the courage to shut your eyes at the prospect of 
large profits, and to be content with small ones. 

Have the courage to tell a man why you will not lend 
him your money ; he will respect you more than if you 
tell him you can't. 

Have the courage to " cut " the most agreeable acquaint- 
ance you possess, when he convinces you that he lacks 
principle ; "a friend should bear with a friend's infirmi- 
ties " — not his vices. 

Have the courage to show your preference for honesty, 
in whatever guise it appears ; and your contempt for vice, 
surrounded by attractions. 

Have the courage to give occasionally that which you 
can ill afford to spare ; giving what you do not want nor 
value neither brings nor deserves thanks in return ; who 
is grateful for a drink of water from another's overflow- 
ing well, however delicious the draught? 

Have the courage to wear your old garments till you 
can pay for new ones. 

Have the courage to obey your Maker, at the risk of 
being ridiculed by man. 

Have the courage to wear thick boots in winter, and to 
insist upon your wife and daughter doing the like. 

Have the courage to acknowledge ignorance of any 
kind ; every body will immediately doubt you, and give 
you more credit than any false pretensions could secure. 

Have the courage to prefer propriety to fashion — one 
is but the abuse of the other. 

Have the courage to listen to your wife, when you 
should do so, and not to listen when you should not. 

Have the courage to provide a frugal dinner for a friend 
whom you "delight to honor;" when you cannot afford 



KING STANISLAUS OF POLAND 359 

wine, offer him porter ; the importance of most things is 
that which we ourselves attach to them. 

Have the courage to ask a visitor to excuse you when 
his presence interferes with your convenience. 

Have the courage to throw your snuff-box into the fire 
or the melting-pot ; to pass a tobacconist's shop ; and to 
decline the use of a friend's box, or even one pinch. 

Have the courage to be independent if you can, and 
act independently when you may. 



CHESTEEFIELD 

(A. D. 1694-1773.) 

Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, 
celebrated in his day as an orator and a politician, but still 
more as a polished man of the eighteenth century English 
world, — its glass of fashion and its mould of form, — is 
made known to posterity mainly by the "Letters to his Son," 
which were published after his death. The son was a lout, 
with whose manners he was concerned, rather than with his 
morals, and these letters were written principally to that 
end. While showing a polite deference to some ethical prin- 
ciples, the immorality of the advice given in other directions 
is rank, even for the first half of the eighteenth century. 
But the fund of worldly wisdom in the " Letters " has rarely 
been excelled. Dr. Johnson thought that, with the immo- 
rality taken out, they ought to be put into the hands of every 
gentleman. On the other hand, the French critic, Taine, 
says of Chesterfield and his letters: "He wishes to polish 
his son, to give him a French air, to add to solid diplomatic 
knowledge and large views of ambition an engaging, lively, 
and frivolous manner. This outward polish, which at Paris 
is of the true color, is here but a shocking veneer. This 
transplanted politeness is a lie, this vivacity is senselessness, 
this worldly education seems fitted only to make actors and 
rogues." 

Chesterfield was born in London in 1694, and died in 
1773. 

CHESTERFIELDIAN MAXIMS. 
(From Lord Chesterfield's " Letters to his Son.") 

If a fool knows a secret, lie tells it because he is a 
fool ; if a knave knows one, he tells it wherever it is his 



CHESTERFIELD 3G1 

interest to tell it. But women, and young men, are very 
apt to tell what secrets they know, from the vanity of 
having been trusted. Trust none of these, whenever you 
can help it. . . . 

In your friendships, and in your enmities, let your con- 
fidence and your hostilities have certain bounds : make 
not the former dangerous, nor the latter irreconcilable. 
There are strange vicissitudes in business ! 

Smooth your way to the head, through the heart. The 
way of reason is a good one ; but it is commonly some- 
thing longer, and perhaps not so sure. . . . 

A man's own good breeding is his best security against 
other people's ill manners. 

Good breeding carries along with it a dignity, that is 
respected by the most petulant. Ill breeding invites and 
authorizes the familiarity of the most timid. No man 
ever said a pert thing to the Duke of Marlborough. No 
man ever said a civil one (though many a flattering one) 
to Sir Robert Walpole. . . . 

Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments only 
give lustre ; and many more people see than weigh. 

Most arts require long study and application ; but the 
most useful art of all, that of pleasing, requires only the 
desire. . . . 

It is very difficult to fix the particular point of economy ; 
the best error of the two is on the parsimonious side. 
That may be corrected, the other cannot. . . . 

Take care always to form your establishment so much 
within your income, as to leave a sufficient fund for un- 
expected contingencies, and a prudent liberality. There 
is hardly a year, in any man's life, in which a small sum 
of ready money may not be employed to great advantage. 



362 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



PRECEPTS SELECTED FROM "THE ECONOMY OF 
HUMAN LIFE." 

(Attributed to Chesterfield.) 

In 1750 there was published at London a little book en- 
titled " The Economy of Human Life, " containing a collec- 
tion of maxims which purported to be "from an Indian 
manuscript, written by an ancient Brahmin." It excited 
no little interest, and the authorship of the work was attrib- 
uted to Lord Chesterfield, without denial on his part. Not 
long after its publication, a spurious second part appeared, 
which the anonymous author of the original found it neces- 
sary to disown, by public advertisement. Altogether, the 
book made a good deal of stir, and successive editions of it 
have been published, nearly, if not quite, down to the pre- 
sent day. That Chesterfield was the author, does not seem 
to have been questioned until after the death of the pub- 
lisher, Dodsley. It was then said that Dodsley wrote "The 
Economy of Human Life, " and that Chesterfield jDermitted 
his name to be connected with it by rumor, in order to pro- 
mote the sale, for Dodsley 's benefit. There seems to be, 
however, no good reason for doubting that the book is really 
Chesterfield's. The question is discussed in volume ten of 
the First Series of "Notes and Queries," pages 8, 74, and 
318. 

The following is a selection from the precepts of the 
pseudo- " Brahmin. " 

The first step towards being wise, is to know that thou 
art ignorant ; and if thou wouldst not be esteemed foolish 
in the judgment of others, cast off the folly of being wise 
in thine own conceit. 

Since the days that are past are gone for ever, and those 
that are to come may not come to thee ; it behoveth thee, 
O man ! to employ the present time, without regretting the 
loss of that which is past, or too much depending on that 
which is to come. 

Endeavour to be first in thy calling, whatever it be ; 



CHESTERFIELD 363 

neither let any one go before you in well-doing ; neverthe- 
less, do not envy the merits of another, but improve thine 
own talents. 

Of much speaking cometh repentance, but in silence is 
safety. 

A talkative man is a nuisance to society ; the ear is 
sick of his babbling, the torrent of his words overwhelmeth 
conversation. 

Avarice is the parent of evil deeds ; but frugality is the 
sure guardian of our virtues. 

From the experience of others, do thou learn wisdom : 
and from their failings, correct thine own faults. 

Trust no man until thou hast tried him; yet mistrust 
not without reason ; it is uncharitable. 

Use not to-day what to-morrow may want ; neither leave 
that to hazard, which foresight may provide for, or care 
prevent. 

The fool is not always unfortunate, nor the wise man 
always successful ; yet never had a fool thorough enjoy- 
ment, never was a wise man wholly unhappy. 

A noble spirit disdaineth the malice of fortune ; his 
greatness of soul is not cast down. 

If thou sufferest not the allurements of fortune to rob 
thee of justice, or temperance, or charity, or modesty, even 
riches themselves shall not make thee unhappy. 

If thou believest a thing impossible, thy despondency 
shall make it so ; but he that persevere th, shall overcome 
all difficulties. 

Let not thy mirth be so extravagant as to intoxicate 
thy mind, nor thy sorrow so heavy as to depress thy 
heart. 

Indulge not thyself in the passion of anger ; it is whet- 
ting a sword to wound thine own breast or murder thy 
friend. 



364 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

A fool is provoked with insolent speeches, but a wise 
man laugheth them to scorn. 

Consider how few things are worthy of anger, and thou 
wilt wonder that any but fools should be in wrath. 

He who pitieth another recommendeth himself. 

Let not the rich . . . presume on his riches, nor the 
poor despond in his poverty ; for the providence of God 
dispenseth happiness to them both, and the distribution 
thereof is more equally made than the fool can believe. 

Thy food, thy clothing, thy convenience of habitation ; 
thy protection from the injuries, thy enjoyments of the 
comforts and pleasures of life ; all these thou owest to 
^he assistance of others, and couldst not enjoy but in the 
bands of society. 

It is thy duty therefore to be a friend to mankind, as 
it is thy interest that man should be friendly to thee. 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 

(A. D. 1703-1758.) 

Jonathan Edwards, the New England metaphysician 
and divine, was born on the 5th of October, 1703, at East 
Windsor, Conn., where his father ministered to the church. 
His mother was the daughter of a minister at Northampton, 
Mass. At thirteen years of age he entered Yale College ; at 
seventeen he graduated. Four years later he became a tutor 
at Yale. In 1727 he was settled as pastor of the church at 
Northampton, where he married and remained until 1750. 
Differences then arose between the congregation and himself 
on the subject of admissions to the communion table, and 
he withdrew to become a missionary among the Indians. 
Shortly afterwards he produced his famous treatise on "The 
Freedom of the Will." In 1757 he was chosen President 
of Princeton College, in New Jersey, but enjoyed the con- 
genial office no longer than a year. His death occurred on 
the 22d of March, 1758. 

"He is not only the greatest of all the thinkers that 
America has produced, but also the highest speculative genius 
of the eighteenth century. . . . Take him all in all, in the 
beauty of his character, in the elevation of his thought, his 
claim to stand amid the great thinkers of the world is indis- 
putable. In England here we have just [1896] been making 
welcome the new edition of Bishop Butler's works, — edited 
by the statesman who in his retirement shows his undimin- 
ished vigour and reveals his lifelong interest in theology, — 
and I have been comparing Butler's answer to Tindal with 
Edwards's, with the result that I am forced to confess that, 
while the rigour and vigour of inexorable logic and the strength 
which comes from a concentration due to the careful exclu- 
sion of all irrelevant matter are with Butler, the elevation, 
the insight, the oversight, the feeling of the magnitude of 
the problem, and the forecast of the lines along which the 



366 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

ultimate answer must move, are all with Edwards." — A. M. 
Fairbairn, D. D., "Jonathan Edwards" ("Prophets of the 
Christian Faith"), ch. 9. 

RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS. 

(From Dwight's " Life of President Edwards.") 

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything with- 
out God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace, to 
enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are 
agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake. 

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week. 

1. Resolved, That I ivill do whatsoever I think to be 
most to the glory of God and my own good, profit and 
pleasure, in the whole of my duration ; without any con- 
sideration of the time, whether now, or never so many 
myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do, whatever I think 
to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of 
mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever diffi- 
cidties I meet with, how many soever, and how great 
soever. 

2. Resolved, To be continually endeavouring to find 
out some new contrivance, and invention, to promote the 
forementioned things. 

3. Resolved, If ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as 
to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent 
of all I can remember, when I come to myself again. 

4. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, 
whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to 
the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly 
avoid it. 

5. Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but 
to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can. 

G. Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do 
live. 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 367 

7. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be 
afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. 

8. Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking 
and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I 
had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities 
or failings as others ; and that I will let the knowledge 
of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, 
and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins 
and misery to God. Vid. July 30. 

9. Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my 
own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend 
death. 

10. Resolved, When I feel pain, to think of the pains 
of Martyrdom, and of Hell. 

11. Resolved, When I think of any Theorem in divin- 
ity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards 
solving it, if circumstances do not hinder. 

12. Resolved, If I take delight in it as a gratification 
of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately 
to throw it by. 

13. Resolved, To be endeavouring to find out fit ob- 
jects of charity and liber ality. 

14. Resolved, Never to do any thing out of Revenge. 

15. Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of 
anger towards irrational beings. 

16. Resolved, Never to speak evil of any one, so that 
it shall tend to his dishonour, more or less, upon no ac- 
count except for some real good. 

17. Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had 
done when I come to die. 

18. Resolved, To live so, at all times, as I think is best 
in my most devout frames, and when I have the clearest 
notions of the things of the Gospel, and another world. 

19. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should 



368 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an 
hour, before I should hear the last trump. 

20. Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance, 
in eating and drinking. 

21. Resolved, Never to do any tiling, which, if I should 
see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise 
him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him. 

22. Resolved, To endeavour to obtain for myself as 
much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, 
with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence, yea 
violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, 
in any way that can be thought of. 

23. Resolved, Frequently to take some deliberate ac- 
tion, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory 
of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs 
and ends of it ; and if I find it not to be for God's glory, 
to repute it as a breach of the fourth Resolution. 

24. Resolved, Whenever I do any conspicuously evil 
action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause ; 
and then, both carefully endeavour to do so no more, and 
to fight and pray with all my might against the original 
of it. 

25. Resolved, To examine carefully and constantly, 
what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the 
least to doubt of the love of God ; and to direct all my 
forces against it. 

26. Resolved, To cast away such things, as I find do 
abate my assurance. 

27. Resolved, Never wilfully to omit any thing, ex- 
cept the omission be for the glory of God ; and frequently 
to examine my omissions. 

28. Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, con- 
stantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly 
perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same. 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 3G9 

29. Resolved, Never to count that a prayer, nor to 
let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, 
which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will an- 
swer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope 
God will accept. 

30. Resolved, To strive, every week, to be brought 
higher in Religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than 
I was the week before. 

31. Resolved, Never to say any thing at all against 
any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the high- 
est degree of christian honour, and of love to mankind, 
agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own 
faults and failings, and agreeable to the Golden Rule ; 
often, when I have said any thing against any one, to 
bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolu- 
tion. 

32. Resolved, To be strictly and firmly faithful to my 
trust, that that, in Pro v. xx. 6, A faithful man, who can 
find f may not be partly fulfilled in me. 

33. Resolved, To do, always, what I can towards mak- 
ing, maintaining and preserving peace, when it can be 
done without an over-balancing detriment in other re- 
spects. Dec. 26, 1722. 

34. Resolved, In narrations, never to speak any thing 
but the pure and simple verity. 

35. Resolved, Whenever I so much question whether 
I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is 
thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the ques- 
tion was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722. 

36. Resolved, Never to speak evil of any, except I 
have some particular good call to it. Dec. 19, 1722. 

37. Resolved, To enquire every night, as I am going 
to bed, Wherein I have been negligent, — What sin I have 
committed, — and wherein 1 have denied myself ; — also, 



370 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 
26, 1722. 

38. Resolved, Never to utter any thing that is sport- 
ive, or matter of laughter, on a Lord's day. Sabbath 
evening, Dec. 23, 1722. 

39. Resolved, Never to do any thing, of which I so 
much question the lawfulness, as that I intend, at the 
same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether 
it be lawful or not ; unless I as much question the lawful- 
ness of the omission. 

40. Resolved, To enquire every night, before I go to 
bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly 
could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723. 

41. Resolved, To ask myself, at the end of every day, 
week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any 
respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723. 

42. Resolved, Frequently to renew the dedication of 
nryself to God, which was made at my baptism, which I 
solemnly renewed, when I was received into the com- 
munion of the church, and which I have solemnly re-made 
this 12th day of January, 1723. 

43. Resolved, Never, hence forward, till I die, to act 
as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether 
God's. . . . Jan. 12, 1723. 

44. Resolved, That no other end but religion, shall 
have any influence at all on any of my actions ; and that 
no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any other- 
wise than the religious end will carry it. Jan. 12, 1723. 

45. Resolved, Never to allow any pleasure or grief, 
joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of 
affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what 
helps Religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723. 

46. Resolved, Never to allow the least measure of any 
fretting or uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved, 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 371 

To suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least altera- 
tion of speech, or motion of my eye ; and to be especially 
careful of it with respect to any of our family. 

47. Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, to deny 
whatever is not most agreeable to a good and universally 
sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and 
easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, sub- 
missive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable 
and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere, temper ; 
and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me 
to ; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, 
whether I have so done. Sabbath morning, May 5, 
1723. 

48. Resolved, Constantly, with the utmost niceness 
and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking 
into the state of my soul that I may know whether I have 
truly an interest in Christ or not ; that when I come to 
die, I may not have any negligence respecting this, to re- 
pent of. May 26, 1723. 

49. Resolved, That this never shall be, if I can 
help it. 

50. Resolved, That I will act so, as I think I shall 
judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I 
come into the future world. July 5, 1723. 

51. Resolved, That I will act so, in every respect, as I 
think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be 
damned. July 8, 1723. 

52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they 
would live, if they were to live their lives over again : 
Resolved, That I will live just so, as I can think I shall 
wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 
1723. 

53. Resolved, To improve every opportunity, when I 
am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and 



372 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and 
confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; 
that from this I may have assurance of my safety, 
knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723. 

54. Resolved, Whenever I hear any thing spoken in 
commendation of any person, if I think it would be praise- 
worthy in me, that I will endeavour to imitate it. July 
8, 1723. 

55. Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, so to act, 
as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the 
happiness of Heaven, and Hell torments. July 8, 1723. 

56. Resolved, Never to give over, nor in the least to 
slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccess- 
ful I may be. 

57. Resolved, When I fear misfortunes and adversity, 
to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to 
do it, and let the event be just as Providence orders it. 
I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but 
my duty, and my sin. June 9, and July 13, 1723. 

58. Resolved, Not only to refrain from an air of dis- 
like, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit 
an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and 
July 13, 1723. 

59. Resolved, When I am most conscious of provoca- 
tions to ill-nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel 
and act good-naturedly ; yea, at such times, to manifest 
good-nature, though I think that in other respects it would 
be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at 
other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13. 

60. Resolved, Whenever my feelings begin to appear 
in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least 
uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will 
then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, 
and 13, 1723. 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 373 

61. Resolved, That I will not give way to that listless- 
ness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from 
being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I 
may have for it — that what my listlessness inclines me 
to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723. 

62. Resolved, Never to do any thing but my duty, and 
then according to Eph. vi. 6-8, to do it willingly and 
cheerfully, as unto the Lord, and not to man ; knowing that 
whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he 
receive of the Lord. June 25, and July 13, 1723. 

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but 
one individual in the world, at any one time, who was 
properly a complete christian, in all respects of a right 
stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true 
lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever 
part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, To 
act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be 
that one, who should live in my time. Jan. 14, and July 
13, 1723. 

64. Resolved, When I find those ' groanings which 
cannot be uttered,' of which the Apostle speaks, and those 
* breakings of sold for the longing it hath,' of which the 
Psalmist speaks, Psalm cxix. 20, That I will promote 
them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be 
weary of earnestly endeavouring to vent my desires, nor 
of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and 
Aug. 10, 1723. 

65. Resolved, Very much to exercise myself in this, 
all my life long, viz. With the greatest openness, of which 
I am capable, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my 
soul to him, all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, 
fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circum- 
stance, according to Dr. Manton's Sermon on the 119th 
Psalm. July 26, and Aug. 10, 1723. 



374 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

66. Resolved, That I will endeavour always to keep a 
benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, 
and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty 
requires otherwise. 

67. Resolved, After afflictions, to enquire, what I am 
the better for them ; What good I have got by them ; 
and, What I might have got by them. 

68. Resolved, To confess frankly to myself all that 
which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin ; and, if it 
be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to 
God, and implore needed help. July 23, and Aug. 10,, 
1723. 

69. Resolved, Always to do that, which I shall wish I 
had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723. 

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that 
I speak. Aug. 17, 1723. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

(A. D. 1706-1790.) 

"He was born in Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706. 
Thence he ran away in the autumn of 1723, and in October 
found himself a new home in Philadelphia, where he made 
his first meal in the street one Sunday morning from a 
draught of Delaware River water and a pennyworth of bread, 
giving twopence worth to a poor woman. Such was his first 
breakfast and his earliest charity in his adopted state. Here 
he worked as a journeyman printer. Deceived by Keith, 
the Governor of Pennsylvania, he went to England, landing 
there the 24th of December, 1724. He followed his trade 
in London for about two years. He returned to Philadelphia 
on the 11th of October, 1726, and resumed his business as 
printer, entering also into politics ; or, rather, I should say, 
he became a statesman, for he was never a politician, but 
a statesman from the beginning, who never solicited an office, 
nor used any indirection to retain one when it was in his 
possession. As agent for Pennsylvania, he again went to 
England in October, 1757, and returned to Philadelphia in 
November, 1762. But he went back to England in Decem- 
ber, 1764, as agent for several colonies, and returned thence, 
5th of May, 1775. He was sent as minister to France by 
the revolted colonies in 1776, whence, on September 14, 
1785, he returned to Philadelphia, which he never left 
again. He was President, or what we should now call 
Governor, of Pennsylvania, from October, 1785, to October, 
1788, and was also a member of the Federal Convention, 
which made the Constitution of the United States. He died 
on the 17th April, 1790, aged eighty-four years and three 
months, and his body lies buried at Philadelphia, in the 
corner of the churchyard, close to the Quaker meeting-house. 
. . . He had an intellect of a very high order, — inven- 
tive, capacious, many-sided, retentive. His life covers 



376 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

nearly the whole of the eighteenth century. Ten years he 
was the contemporary of Leibnitz, twenty-one of Sir Isaac 
Newton. He was sixty-three years old when Alexander 
Humboldt and Cuvier were born. He embraced Voltaire. 
His orbit was intersected by that of Berkeley, Montesquieu, 
Hume, Kant, Priestley, Adam Smith. But in the eighty- 
four years to which his life extended, I find no mind which, 
on the whole, seems so great. I mean so generally able, 
various, original, and strong. Others were quite superior 
to him in specialties of intellect, — metaphysical, mathe- 
matical, and poetical. Many surpassed him in wide learn- 
ing, of literature, or science, and in careful and exact culture ; 
but none equalled him in general largeness of power, and 
great variety and strength of mind. In an age of encyclopae- 
dias, his was the most encyclopaedic head in all Christendom. 
In the century of revolution, his was the most revolutionary 
and constructive intellect. He had no nonsense, was never 
eccentric." — Theodore Parker in "Historic Americans." 

FRANKLIN'S PLAN FOR ACQUIRING HABITS OF 
VIRTUE. 

(From his Autobiography.) 

It was about this time [1730] I conceiv'd the bold and 
arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd 
to live without committing any fault at any time ; I would 
conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or com- 
pany might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, 
what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not 
always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found 
I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had 
imagined. While my care was employ'd in guarding 
against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit 
took the advantage of inattention ; inclination was some- 
times too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that 
the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to 
be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our 
slipping ; and that the contrary habits must be broken, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 377 

and good ones acquired and established, before we can 
have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of 
conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the fol- 
lowing method. 

In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had 
met with in my reading, I found the catalogue more or 
less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer 
ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, 
was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by 
others it was extended to mean the moderating every 
other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or 
mental, even to our avarice and ambition. I propos'd to 
myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more 
names, with fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names 
with more ideas ; and I included under thirteen names of 
virtues all that at that time occurr'd to me as necessary 
or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which 
fully express'd the extent I gave to its meaning. 

These names of virtues, with their precepts were : 

1. Temperance. 
Eat not to dulness ; drink not to elevation. 

2. Silence. 

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself ; 
avoid trifling conversation. 

3. Order. 

Let all your tilings have their places ; let each part of 
your business have its time. 

4. Eesolution. 

Resolve to perform what you ought ; perform without 
fail what you resolve. 



378 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

5. Frugality. 

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself ; 
i. e. waste nothing. 

6. Industry. 

Lose no time ; be always employed in something use- 
ful ; cut off all unnecessary actions. 

7. Sincerity. 

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; 
and, if you speak, speak accordingly. 

8. Justice. 

Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits 
that are your duty. 

9. Moderation. 

Avoid extreams ; forbear resenting injuries so much as 
you think they deserve. 

10. Cleanliness. 

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habita- 
tion. 

11. Tranquillity. 

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or 
unavoidable. 

12. Chastity. 

Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to 
dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's 
peace or reputation. 

13. Humility. 
Imitate Jesus and Socrates. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 379 

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these 
virtues, I judg'd it would be well not to distract my at- 
tention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on 
one of them at a time ; and, when I should be master of 
that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should 
have gone thro' the thirteen ; and, as the previous acqui- 
sition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain 
others, I arrang'd them with that view, as they stand 
above. Temperance first, as it tends to procure that cool- 
ness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where 
constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard main- 
tained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, 
and the force of perpetual temptations. This being ac- 
quir'd and establish'd, Silence would be more easy; and 
my desire being to gain knowledge at the same time that 
I improv'd in virtue, and considering that in conversation 
it was obtain'd rather by the use of the ears than of the 
tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was get- 
ting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only 
made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence 
the second place. This and the next, Order, I expected 
would allow me more time for attending to my project 
and my studies. Resolution, once become habitual, would 
keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent 
virtues ; Frugality and Industry freeing me from my 
remaining debt, and producing affluence and independ- 
ence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and 
Justice, etc., etc. Conceiving then, that agreeably to the 
advice of Pythagoras in his Golden Verses, daily exami- 
nation would be necessary, I contrived the following 
method for conducting that examination. I made a little 
book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. 
I rul'd each page with red ink, so as to have seven col- 
umns, one for each day of the week, marking each column 



380 



A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



with a letter for the day. I cross'd these columns with 
thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line 
with the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, 
and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black 
spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been 
committed respecting that virtue upon that day. 



TEMPERANCE. 


EAT NOT TO DULNESS. 
DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. 




S. 


M. 


T. 


W. 


T. 


F. 


S. 


T. 














s. 


* 


* 




* 




* 


0. 


## 


* 


* 




* 


* 


* 


R. 






* 




* 


* 


F. 




* 










I. 






* 










S. 
















J. 
















M. 

















C. 














T. 

















C. 














H. 

















BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 381 

I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of 
the virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my 
great guard was to avoid every the least offence against 
Temperance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary 
chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day. 
Thus, if in the first week I could keep my first line, 
marked T, clear of spots, I suppos'd the habit of that 
virtue so much strengthen'd, and its opposite weaken'd, 
that I might venture extending my attention to include 
the next, and for the following week keep both lines clear 
of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could go thro' a 
course compleat in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a 
year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, does 
not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which 
would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one 
of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish'd the first, 
proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the 
encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I 
made in virtue, by clearing successively my lines of their 
spots, till in the end, by a number of courses, I should be 
happy in viewing a clean book, after a thirteen weeks' 
daily examination. 

This my little book had for its motto these lines from 
Addison's Cato : 

" Here will I hold. If there 's a power ahove us 
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud 
Thro' all her works), He must delight in virtue ; 
And that which he delights in must be happy." 

Another from Cicero, 

" O vitae Philosophia dux ! O virtutum indagatrix expultrix- 
que vitiorum ! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis tuis actus, pec- 
canti immortaliti est anteponendus." 

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking of 
wisdom or virtue : 



382 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

" Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand 
riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
her paths are peace." iii. 16, 17. 

And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I 
thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for 
obtaining it; to this end I formed the following little 
prayer, w r hich was prefix'd to my tables of examination, 
for daily use. 

" O powerful Goodness ! bountiful Father I merciful 
Guide ! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my 
truest interest. Strengthen my resolutions to perform 
what that wisdom dictates. Accept my hind offices to 
thy other children as the only return in my power for thy 
continual favours to me." 

I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from 
Thomson's Poems, viz. : 

" Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme ! 
teach me what is good ; teach me Thyself ! 
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, 
From every low pursuit ; and fill my soul 
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure ; 
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss ! " 

The precept of Order requiring that every part of my 
business should have its allotted time, one page in my 
little book contain'd the following scheme of employment 
for the twenty-four hours of a natural day. 

Rise, wash, and address Pow- 
erful Goodness ! Contrive 
day's business, and take the 
resolution of the day ; prose- 
7 ] cute the present study, and 
breakfast. 



The Morning. 
Question. What good-; 
shall I do this day ? 



j 



9 
10 
11 



Work. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



383 



Noon. 



Read, or overlook 
counts, and dine. 



my 



ac- 



Work. 



Evening. 
Question. What good < 
have I done to-day ? 



Night. 



Put things in their places. 
Supper. Music or diversion, 
or conversation. Examina- 
tion of the day. 



Sleep. 



I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self-exam- 
ination, and continu'd it with occasional intermissions for 
some time. I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller 
of faults than I had imagined ; but I had the satisfaction of 
seeing them diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing 
now and then my little book, which, by scraping out the 
marks on the paper of old faults to make room for new ones 
in a new course, became full of holes, I transferr'd my 
tables and precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum 
book, on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that 
made a durable stain, and on those lines I mark'd my 
faults with a black-lead pencil, which marks I could easily 
wipe out with a wet sponge. After a while I went thro' 
one course only in a year, and afterward only one in sev- 
eral years, till at length I omitted them entirely, being 
employ'd in voyages and business abroad, with a multi- 
plicity of affairs that interfered ; but I always carried my 
little book with me. 



384 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble. . . . 
In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to 
Order ; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I 
feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho' 
I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious 
of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the 
endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise 
should have been if I had not attempted it ; as those who 
aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies, 
tho' they never reach the wish'd-for excellence of those 
copies, their hand is mended by the endeavour, and is tol- 
erable while it continues fair and legible. 

It may be well my posterity should be informed that 
to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their an- 
cestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 
79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may 
attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence ; but, 
if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy 'd 
ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. 
To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, 
and what is still left to him of a good constitution ; to 
Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circum- 
stances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that know- 
ledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and ob- 
tained for him some degree of reputation among the 
learned ; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his 
country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon 
him ; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the 
virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire 
them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness 
in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, 
and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, 
therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the ex- 
ample and reap the benefit. 



LORD CHATHAM 

(A. 1). 1708-1778.) 

William Pitt, the Elder, called "the Great Commoner" 
until he gave up that highest of titles to become the Earl 
of Chatham, was the son of Robert Pitt, of Boconnock, Corn- 
wall. He was born at Westminster, November 15, 1708; 
entered Parliament in 1735; was made Paymaster-General 
in 1746, and attained a place in the cabinet in 1756, as 
Secretary of State. From that time until 1761, though not 
premier in name, he was the master-mind in the English 
government, controlling and directing the Seven Years' War, 
w r ith brilliant results of colonial conquest and commercial 
expansion. He resigned office in 1761; returned to the 
ministry in 1766 as premier, and accepted a peerage, as 
Viscount Pitt and Earl of Chatham. Ill health compelled 
his resignation again in 1768. He had opposed the policy 
pursued by the government toward the American colonies, 
and he continued to do so with strenuous eloquence after they 
were driven to revolt ; but his last speech in the House of 
Lords was made in protest against proposals of peace with 
France which involved a recognition of the independence of 
the colonies. He sank in a swoon while speaking, and died 
four days afterwards, on the 11th of May, 1778. 

"Pitt had," says Mr. Lecky, in his "History of England 
in the Eighteenth Century, " " every quality that was re- 
quired for a great popular leader. His splendid eloquence, 
his disinterestedness, his position outside the charmed circle 
of aristocratic connections, the popular cast and tendency of 
his politics, filled the people with admiration, and their 
enthusiasm was by no means diminished by the pride with 
which, relying on their favour, he encountered every aristo- 
cratic cabal, or by the insatiable ambition which was the 
most conspicuous element of his character. His pride was 
indeed of that kind which is the guardian of many virtues, 



386 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

and his ambition was indissolubly linked with the greatness 
of his country. Beyond all other statesmen of the eighteenth 
century he understood and sympathized with the feelings of 
the English people, and recognized the great unrepresented 
forces of the nation, and amid all the variations of his career 
his love of freedom never faltered, and a burning, passionate 
patriotism remained the guiding principle of his life. The 
qualities of a great popular leader are, however, by no means 
his only title to our admiration. It is his peculiar merit, 
that while no statesman of his time rested more entirely 
upon popular favour, or enjoyed it more largely, or valued it 
more highly, very few risked it so boldly in a righteous 
cause. . . . 

"Great disinterestedness, great courage, and great patriot- 
ism, united with an intense love of liberty, with splendid 
talents, and with splendid success, were sufficient to overbal- 
ance and sometimes to conceal faults that would have ruined 
an inferior man. No impartial judge, indeed, who considers 
the career of Pitt, can fail to admit that it was disfigured 
by the grossest inconsistencies. . . . He was . . . singu- 
larly theatrical and affected. His speeches owed much of 
their charm to the most consummate acting, and he carried 
his histrionic turn into every sphere in which he moved. 
. . . His letters — whether he was addressing a minister on 
affairs of state, or exhorting his young nephew to guard 
against the ungracefulness of laughter — were tumid, formal, 
and affected. . . . It is said of him that in his family circle 
he delighted in reading out the tragedies of Shakespeare, 
which he did with great pathos and power; but whenever 
he came to any light or comic parts, he immediately stopped 
and gave the book to some member of his family to read. 
This anecdote is characteristic of his whole life. He never 
unbent. He was always acting a part, always self-conscious, 
always aiming at a false and unreal dignity. These faults 
increased with age." 



LORD CHATHAM 387 

LETTERS OF THE EARL OF CHATHAM TO HIS 
NEPHEW, THOMAS PITT, FROM BATH, JANUARY, 
1754. 

(From the "Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham.") 

You are already possessed of the true clue to guide you 
through this dangerous and perplexing part of your life's 
journey, the years of education ; and upon which, the com- 
plexion of all the rest of your days will infallibly depend : 
I say, you have the true clue to guide you, in the maxim 
you lay down in your letter to me ; namely, that the use 
of learning is, to render a man more wise and virtuous, 
not merely to make him more learned. Made tud vir- 
tute. Go on, my dear boy, by this golden rule, and you 
cannot fail to become every thing your generous heart 
prompts you to wish to be, and that mine most affection- 
ately wishes for you. 

There is but one danger in your way ; and that is, per- 
haps, natural enough to your age — the love of pleasure, 
or the fear of close application and laborious diligence. 
With the last, there is nothing you may not conquer ; 
and the first is sure to conquer and enslave whoever does 
not strenuously and generously resist the first allurements 
of it, lest by small indulgences, he fall under the yoke of 
irresistible habit. " Vitanda est improba siren, Desidia" 
I desire may be affixed to the curtains of your bed, and 
to the walls of your chambers. If you do not rise early, 
you never can make any progress worth talking of ; and 
another rule is, if you do not set apart your hours of 
reading, and never suffer yourself or any one else to 
break in upon them, your days will slip through your 
hands unprofitably and frivolously ; unpraised by all you 
wish to please, and really unenjoyable to yourself. Be 
assured, whatever you take from pleasure, amusements, 



388 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

or indolence, for these first few years of your life, will re- 
pay you a hundred fold, in the pleasures, honours, and 
advantages of all the remainder of your days. . . . 

As to your companions, let this be your rule : — ... 
be sure to associate with men much older than yourself ; 
scholars whenever you can, but always with men of de- 
cent and honourable lives. As their age and learning, 
superior both to your own, must necessarily, in good 
sense, and in the view of acquiring knowledge from them, 
entitle them to all deference, and submission of your own 
lights to theirs, you will particularly practise that first 
and greatest rule for pleasing in conversation, as well as 
for drawing instruction and improvement from the com- 
pany of one's superiors in age and knowledge, namely, to 
be a patient, attentive, and well-bred hearer, and to an- 
swer with modesty ; to deliver your own opinions sparingly 
and with proper diffidence ; and if you are forced to de- 
sire farther information or explanation upon a point, to 
do it with proper apologies for the trouble you give ; or if 
obliged to differ, to do it with all possible candour, and 
an unprejudiced desire to find and ascertain truth, with 
an entire indifference to the side on which that truth is to 
be found. 

There is likewise a particular attention required to con- 
tradict with good manners ; such as, begging pardon, beg- 
ging leave to doubt, and such like phrases. Pythagoras 
enjoined his scholars an absolute silence for a long noviti- 
ate. I am far from approving such a taciturnity ; but I 
highly recommend the end and intent of Pythagoras's in- 
junction, which is, to dedicate the first parts of life more 
to hear and learn, in order to collect materials, out of 
which to form opinions founded on proper lights and 
well-examined sound principles, than to be presuming, 
prompt, and flippant in hazarding one's own slight crude 



LORD CHATHAM 389 

notions of things, and thereby exposing the nakedness and 
emptiness of the mind — like a house opened to company, 
before it is fitted either with necessaries, or any orna- 
ments for their reception and entertainment. 

And not only will this disgrace follow from such temer- 
ity and presumption, but a more serious danger is sure to 
ensue, that is, the embracing errors for truths, prejudices 
for principles; and when that is once done (no matter 
how vainly and weakly), the adhering perhaps to false 
and dangerous notions, only because one has declared for 
them, and submitting, for life, the understanding and 
conscience to a yoke of base and servile prejudices, vainly 
taken up and obstinately retained. . . . 

As to your manner of behaving towards those unhappy 
young gentlemen you describe, let it be manly and easy : 
decline their parties with civility ; retort their raillery 
with raillery, always tempered with good breeding : if 
they banter your regularity, order, decency, and love of 
study, banter in return their neglect of them, and venture 
to own frankly, that you came to Cambridge to learn 
what you can, not to follow what they are pleased to call 
pleasure. In short, let your external behaviour to them 
be as full of politeness and ease, as your inward estimation 
of them is full of pity, mixed with contempt. 

I come now to the part of the advice I have to offer to 
you, which most nearly concerns your welfare, and upon 
which every good and honourable purpose of your life 
will assuredly turn ; I mean the keeping up in your heart 
the true sentiments of religion. If you are not right to- 
wards God, you can never be so towards man : the noblest 
sentiment of the human breast is here brought to the test. 
Is gratitude in the number of a man's virtues ? if it be, 
the highest benefactor demands the warmest returns of 
gratitude, love and praise. . . . 



390 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Hold fast, therefore, by this sheet-anchor of happiness, 
religion : you will often want it in the times of most dan- 
ger ; the storms and tempests of life. Cherish true religion 
as preciously as you will fly with abhorrence and contempt 
superstition and enthusiasm. The first is the perfection 
and glory of the human nature ; the two last the depriva- 
tion and disgrace of it. . . . 

I will now, my dear nephew, say a few things to you 
upon a matter where you have surprisingly little to learn, 
considering you have seen nothing but Boconnock; I 
mean behaviour. Behaviour is of infinite advantage or 
prejudice to a man, as he happens to have formed it to a 
graceful, noble, engaging, and proper manner, or to a vul- 
gar, coarse, ill-bred, or awkward and ungenteel one. Be- 
haviour, though an external thing, which seems rather to 
belong to the body than to the mind, is certainly founded 
in considerable virtues ; though I have known instances 
of good men, with something very revolting and offensive 
in their manner of behaviour, especially when they have 
the misfortune to be naturally very awkward and un- 
genteel, and which their mistaken friends have helped to 
confirm them in, by telling them that they were above 
such trifles as being genteel, dancing, fencing, riding, and 
doing all manly exercises, with grace and vigour : as if 
the body, because inferior, were not a part of the compo- 
sition of man ; and the proper, easy, ready, and graceful 
use of himself, both in mind and limb, did not go to make 
up the character of an accomplished man. . . . 

As to the carriage of your person, be particularly care- 
ful, as you are tall and thin, not to get a habit of stoop- 
ing ; nothing has so poor a look. Above all things, avoid 
contracting any peculiar gesticulations of the body, or 
movements of the muscles of the face. It is rare to see 
in any one a graceful laughter ; it is generally better to 



LORD CHATHAM 391 

smile than laugh out, especially to contract a habit of 
laughing at small or no jokes. Sometimes it would be af- 
fectation, or worse, mere mo'roseness, not to laugh heartily, 
when the truly ridiculous circumstances of an incident, 
or the true pleasantry and wit of a thing call for and 
justify it ; but the trick of laughing frivolously is by all 
means to be avoided — risu inepto, res ineptior nulla 
est. 

Now as to politeness ; many have attempted definitions 
of it. I believe it is best to be known by description ; 
definition not being able to comprise it. I would, however, 
venture to call it benevolence in trifles, or the preference 
of others to ourselves in little daily, hourly, occurrences 
in the commerce of life. A better place, a more commo- 
dious seat, priority in being helped at table, &c, what 
is it, but sacrificing ourselves in such trifles to the con- 
venience and pleasure of others? And this constitutes 
true politeness. It is a perpetual attention (by habit it 
grows easy and natural to us) to the little wants of those 
we are with, by which we either prevent or remove them. 
Bowing, ceremonious, formal compliments, stiff civilities, 
will never be politeness ; that must be easy, natural, un- 
studied, manly, noble. And what will give this, but a 
mind benevolent, and perpetually attentive to exert that 
amiable disposition in trifles towards all you converse and 
live with. Benevolence in greater matters takes a higher 
name, and is the queen of virtues. Nothing is so incom- 
patible with politeness as any trick of absence of mind. 

I would trouble you with a word or two more upon 
some branches of behaviour, which have a more serious 
moral obligation in them than those of mere politeness, 
which are equally important in the eye of the world. I 
mean a proper behaviour, adapted to the respective rela- 
tions we stand in, towards the different ranks of superiors, 



392 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

equals, and inferiors. Let your behaviour towards supe- 
riors, in dignity, age, learning, or any distinguished 
excellence, be full of respect, deference, and modesty : to- 
wards equals, nothing becomes a man so well as well-bred 
ease, polite freedom, generous frankness, manly spirit, 
always tempered with gentleness and sweetness of manner, 
noble sincerity, candour, and openness of heart, qualified 
and restrained within the bounds of discretion and pru- 
dence, and ever limited by a sacred regard to secrecy in 
all things intrusted to it, and an inviolable attachment to 
your word. To inferiors, gentleness, condescension, and 
affability, is the only dignity. Towards servants, never 
accustom yourself to rough and passionate language. 
When they are good, we should consider them as humiles 
amid, as fellow Christians, ut conservi ; and when they 
are bad, pity, admonish, and part with them if incorri- 
gible. On all occasions beware, my dear child, of anger, 
that demon, that destroyer of our peace : — 

" Ira furor brevis est, animum reg-e, qui nisi paret, 
Imperat : hune frenis, hunc tu eompesce catena." 

" Anger's a shorter madness of the mind : 
Subdue the tyrant, and in fetters bind." 

Francis's Horace. 



COWPER 

(A. D. 1731-1800.) 

"William Cowper, " says Mr. Goldwin Smith, "came 
of the Whig nobility of the robe. His great-uncle, after 
whom he was named, was the Whig Lord Chancellor of Anne 
and George I. His grandfather was that Spencer Cowper, 
judge of the Common Pleas, for love of whom the pretty 
Quakeress drowned herself, and who, by the rancour of party, 
was indicted for her murder. His father, the Rev. John 
Cowper, D. D., was chaplain to George II. His mother 
was a Donne, of the race of the poet, and descended by 
several lines from Henry III. A Whig and a gentleman he 
was by birth, a Whig and a gentleman he remained to the 
end. He was born on the 15th November (old style), 1731, 
in his father's^ rectory of Berkhampsted. From nature he 
received, with a large measure of the gifts of genius, a still 
larger measure of its painful sensibilities. . . . For the 
battle of life he was totally unfit. His judgment in its 
healthy state was, even on practical questions, sound enough, 
as his letters abundantly prove; but his sensibility not only 
rendered him incapable of wrestling with a rough world, but 
kept him always on the verge of madness, and frequently 
plunged him into it. To the malady which threw him out 
of active life we owe not the meanest of English poets." 

In Mr. Smith's view, "Cowper is the most important 
English poet of the period between Pope and the illustrious 
group headed by Wordsworth, Byron, and Shelley, which 
arose out of the intellectual ferment of the European Revo- 
lution. As a reformer of poetry, who called it back from 
conventionality to nature, and at the same time as the 
teacher of a new school of sentiment which acted as a solvent 
upon the existing moral and social system, he may perhaps 
himself be numbered among the precursors of the Revolution, 
though he was certainly the mildest of them all." 



394 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Cowper's most important poem, "The Task," was pub- 
lished in 1785, fifteen years before his death, which occurred 
in 1800. 

THE HAPPY MAN. 

(From "The Task," by William Cowper, book vi.) 

He is the happy man, whose life even now 

Shows somewhat of that happier life to come; 

Who doomed to an obscure but tranquil state 

Is pleased with it, and were he free to choose, 

Would make his fate his choice ; whom peace, the fruit 

Of virtue, and whom virtue, fruit of faith, 

Prepare for happiness ; bespeak him one 

Content indeed to sojourn while he must 

Below the skies, but having there his home. 

The world o'erlooks him in her busy search 

Of objects more illustrious in her view ; 

And occupied as earnestly as she, 

Though more sublimely, he o'erlooks the world. 

She scorns his pleasures, for she knows them not ; 

He seeks not hers, for he has proved them vain. 

He cannot skim the ground like summer birds 

Pursuing gilded flies, and such he deems 

Her honours, her emoluments, her joys. 

Therefore in contemplation is his bliss, 

Whose power is such, that whom she lifts from earth 

She makes familiar with a heaven unseen, 

And shows him glories yet to be reveal'd. 

Not slothful he, though seeming unemployed, 

And censured oft as useless. Stillest streams 

Oft water fairest meadows, and the bird 

That nutters least is longest on the wing. 

Ask him indeed what trophies he has raised, 

Or what achievements of immortal fame 



COWPER 395 

He purposes, and he shall answer — none. 

His warfare is within. There unfatigued 

His fervent spirit labours. There he fights, 

And there obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself, 

And never-withering wreaths, compared with which 

The laurels that a Csesar reaps are weeds. 

Perhaps the self-approving haughty world, 

(That as she sweeps him with her whistling silks 

Scarce deigns to notice him, or if she see 

Deems him a cypher in the works of God,) 

Receives advantage from his noiseless hours 

Of which she little dreams. Perhaps she owes 

Her sunshine and her rain, her blooming spring 

And plenteous harvest, to the prayer he makes, 

When Isaac-like, the solitary saint 

Walks forth to meditate at eventide, 

And think on her, who thinks not for herself. 

Forgive him then, thou bustler in concerns 

Of little worth, and idler in the best, 

If author of no mischief and some good, 

He seek his proper happiness by means 

That may advance, but cannot hinder thine. 

Nor, though he tread the secret path of life, 

Engage no notice, and enjoy much ease, 

Account him an incumbrance on the state, 

Receiving benefits, and rendering none. 

His sphere though humble, if that humble sphere 

Shine with his fair example, and though small 

His influence, if that influence all be spent 

In soothing sorrow and in quenching strife, 

In aiding helpless indigence, in works 

Prom which at least a grateful few derive 

Some taste of comfort in a world of woe, 

Then let the supercilious great confess 



A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

He serves his country ; recompenses well 
The state beneath the shadow of whose vine 
He sits secure, and in the scale of life 
Holds no ignoble, though a slighted place. 
The man whose virtues are more felt than seen, 
Must drop indeed the hope of public praise ; 
But he may boast what few that win it can, 
That if his country stand not by his skill, 
At least his follies have not wrought her fall. 
Polite refinement offers him in vain 
Her golden tube, through which a sensual world 
Draws gross impurity, and likes it well, 
The neat conveyance hiding all the offence. 
Not that he peevishly rejects a mode 
Because that world adopts it : if it bear 
The stamp and clear impression of good sense, 
And be not costly more than of true worth, 
He puts it on, and for decorum sake 
Can wear it even as gracefully as she. 
She judges of refinement by the eye, 
He by the test of conscience, and a heart 
Not soon deceived ; aware that what is base 
No polish can make sterling, and that vice 
Though well perfumed and elegantly dress'd, 
Like an unburned carcase trick'd with flowers, 
Is but a garnish'd nuisance, fitter far 
For cleanly riddance than for fair attire. 
So life glides smoothly and by stealth away, 
More golden than that age of fabled gold 
Renown 'd in ancient song ; not vex'd with care 
Or stained with guilt, beneficent, approved 
Of God and man, and peaceful in its end. 



WASHINGTON 

(A. D. 1732-1799.) 

George Washington, the great leader of the American 
struggle for national independence, and first President of the 
republic of the United States, was born in Westmoreland 
County, Virginia, on the 22d of February (N. S.), 1732, 
and died at Mount Vernon, Virginia, on the 14th of Decem- 
ber, 1799. He won reputation as a soldier in the French 
and Indian War, 1754-58, and, on the outbreak of the War 
of Independence, was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
Continental forces, June 15th, 1775. He resigned his com- 
mission at the close of the war, in 1783, and retired to his 
estate at Mount Vernon; but was called forth again in 1787, 
to serve his country in a civil capacity, first as the presiding 
officer of the convention which framed the constitution of 
the federal republic of the United States of America, and 
then to become the chief magistrate of the nation so consti- 
tuted. 

Of the two letters copied below, addressing advice to his 
nephews on the plan and conduct of their lives, the first was 
written a short time before his retirement from the army; 
the second just after his election to the presidency, and on 
the eve of his inauguration. It is characteristic of the no- 
bility of his nature that he should have been thoughtful of 
his young kinsmen at such times. 

Appended to these excellent letters are some precepts se- 
lected from what are often spoken of as " Washington's Rules 
of Civility." The rules in question are found in a manu- 
script book, now preserved in the State Archives at Washing- 
ton, which Washington used as a boy, for various purposes. 
It was formerly supposed that the young Virginian had either 
composed these rules, or collected them from different 
sources ; and that belief gave more importance to them than 
they possess in themselves. Mr. Moncure D. Conway has 



398 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

discovered their source in an old French book on Behavior, 
originally prepared for the pupils of the College of La Fleche, 
as long ago as 1595, but which passed through many later 
editions and translations. Washington received them, with- 
out doubt, from the Rev. James Marye, a French gentleman, 
whose school he attended, at Fredericksburg, in 1745. He 
probably wrote them in his book from the teacher's dictation, 
making many boyish mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and 
otherwise, all of which are reproduced in the exact text pub- 
lished by Mr. Conway. The selection given here is from 
that text. It includes only a few of the more permanently 
valuable among: the one hundred and ten rules in Washing- 
ton's manuscript. There are not many of the remainder that 
have much significance at the present day. Generally their 
subject is Manners, not Morals. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON TO HIS NEPHEW, BUSHROD 
WASHINGTON. 

New burg, 15 January, 1783. 
. . . Let the object, which carried you to Philadelphia, 
be always before your Eyes. Remember, that it is not 
the mere study of the Law, but to become eminent in 
the profession of it, which is to yield honor and profit. 
The first was your choice ; let the second be your ambi- 
tion, and that dissipation is incompatible with both ; that 
the Company, in which you will improve most, will be 
least expensive to you ; and yet I am not such a Stoic as 
to suppose that you will, or to think it right that you 
should, always be in Company with senators and philoso- 
phers ; but of the young and juvenile kind let me advise 
you to be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances, but 
very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and un- 
profitable they are found, after we have once committed 
ourselves to them. The indiscretions and scrapes, which 
very often they involuntarily lead one into, prove equally 
distressing and disgraceful. 



WASHINGTON 399 

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few ; and let 
those few be well tried before you give them your con- 
fidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and 
must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity be- 
fore it is entitled to the appellation. 

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of 
every one, and let your hand give in proportion to your 
parse ; remembering always the estimation of the widow's 
mite, but, that it is not every one who asketh that de- 
serveth charity ; all, however, are worthy of the inquiry, 
or the deserving may suffer. 

Do not conceive that fine clothes make fine men any 
more than fine feathers make fine Birds. A plain gen- 
teel dress is more admired, and obtains more credit than 
lace and embroidery, in the Eyes of the judicious and sen- 
sible. 

The last thing, which I shall mention, is first in impor- 
tance ; and that is, to avoid Gaming. This is a vice 
which is productive of every possible evil ; equally inju- 
rious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the 
child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of 
mischief. 



TO GEORGE STEPTOE WASHINGTON. 

Mount Vernon, 23 March, 1789. 
Dear George, 

As it is probable I shall soon be under the necessity of 
quitting this place, and entering once more into the bustle 
of public life, in conformity to the voice of my Country 
and the earnest entreaties of my friends, however con- 
trary it is to my own desires or inclinations ; I think it 
incumbent on me as your Uncle and friend, to give you 
some advisory hints, which if properly attended to, will, I 



400 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

conceive, be found very useful to you in regulating your 
conduct and giving you respectability not only at present 
but through every period of life. You have now arrived 
to that age when you must quit the trifling amusements 
of a boy, and assume the more dignified manners of a 
man. 

At this crisis your conduct will attract the notice of 
those who are about you ; and as the first impressions are 
generally the most lasting ; your doings now may mark 
the leading traits of your character through life. It is, 
therefore, absolutely necessary, if you mean to make any 
figure upon the stage, that you should take the first steps 
right. What these steps are and what general line is to 
be pursued to lay the foundation of an honorable and 
happy progress, is the part of age and experience to point 
out. This I shall do, as far as in my power with the 
utmost chearfulness ; and, I trust, that your own good 
sense will shew you the necessity of following it. The 
first and great object with you at present is to acquire, by 
industry and application, such knowledge as your situa- 
tion enables you to obtain, as will be useful to you in life. 
In doing this two other important objects will be gained 
besides the acquisition of knowledge — namely a habit of 
industry, and a disrelish of that profusion of money and 
dissipation of time which are ever attendant upon idle- 
ness. I do not mean by a close application to your studies 
that you should never enter into those amusements which 
are suited to your age and station. They may be made 
to go hand in hand with each other, and used in their 
proper seasons, will ever be found to be a mutual assist- 
ance to each other. But what amusements are to be 
taken, and when, is the great matter to be attended to — 
your own judgement, with the advice of your real friends 
who may have an opportunity of a personal intercourse 



WASHINGTON 401 

with you can point out the particular manner in which 
you may best spend your moments of relaxation, much 
better than I can at a distance. — One thing, however, I 
would strongly impress upon you, viz: that when you 
have leisure, to go into company ; that it should always 
be of the best kind that the place you are in will afford ; 
by this means you will be constantly improving your man- 
ners and cultivating your mind while you are relaxing 
from your books ; and good company will always be found 
much less expensive than bad. You cannot offer, as an 
excuse for not using it, that you cannot gain admission 
there, or that you have not a proper attention paid you in 
it, this is an apology made only by those whose manners 
are disgusting, or whose character is exceptionable ; nei- 
ther of which, I hope, will ever be said of you. I cannot 
enjoin too strongly upon you a due observance of economy 
and frugality : As you well know yourself, the present 
state of your property and finances will not admit of any 
unnecessary expense. The article of clothing is now one 
of the chief expenses, you will incur ; and in this, I fear, 
you are not so economical as you should be. Decency and 
cleanliness will always be the first object in the dress of 
a judicious and sensible man. A conformity to the pre- 
vailing fashion in a certain degree is necessary — but it 
does not follow from thence that a man should always 
get a new coat, or other clothes, upon every trifling 
change in the mode, when perhaps he has two or three 
very good ones by him. A person who is anxious to be a 
leader of the fashion, or one of the first to follow it, will 
certainly appear in the eyes of judicious men, to have 
nothing better than a frequent c[h]ange of dress to 
recommend him to notice. I would always wish you to 
appear sufficiently decent to entitle you to admission into 
any company, where you may be, — but I cannot too 



402 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

strongly enjoin it upon you — and your own knowledge 
must convince you of the truth of it — that you should be 
as little expensive in this respect as you properly can — 
You should always keep some clothes to wear to church, 
or on particular occasions, which should not be worn 
every day. This can be done without any additional ex- 
pense ; for whenever it is necessary to get new clothes, 
those which have been kept for particular occasions, will 
then come in as every day ones, unless they should be of 
a superior quality to the new. What I have said with 
respect to clothes will apply perhaps more pointedly to 
Lawrence than to you, — and as you are much older than 
he is, and more capable of judging of the propriety of 
what I have here observed, you must pay attention to 
Mm, in this respect, and see that he does not wear his 
clothes improperly or extravagantly. Much more might 
be said to you, as a young man, upon the necessity of pay- 
ing due attention to the moral virtues, — but this may, 
perhaps, more properly be the subject of a future letter 
when you are about to enter into the world. . . . 

Your affectionate friend and Uncle. 



SELECTIONS FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON'S RULES 
OF CIVILITY. 

Be no Flatterer, neither Play with any that delights 
not to be Playd Withal. 

Reproach none for the Infirmities of Nature, nor De- 
light to Put them that have in mind thereof. 

Shew not yourself glad at the misfortune of another 
though he were your enemy. 

When you see a Crime punished, you may be inwardly 
pleased ; but always shew Pity to the Suffering Offender. 

Superfluous Complements and all Affectation of Cere- 



WASHINGTON 403 

mony are to be avoided, yet where due they are not to be 
neglected. 

Do not express Joy before one sick or in pain for that 
contrary Passion will aggravate his Misery. 

When a man does all he can though it Succeeds not 
well blame not him that did it. 

Take all Admonitions thankfully in what Time or Place 
Soever given but afterwards not being culpable take a 
Time or Place Convenient to let him Know it that gave 
them. 

Wherein you reprove Another be unblameable your- 
self ; for example is more prevalent than Precepts. 

Be not hasty to believe flying Reports to the Disparage- 
ment of any. 

In your Apparel be Modest and endeavour to accom- 
modate Nature, rather than to procure Admiration; Keep 
to the Fashion of your equals. 

Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you 
Esteem your own Reputation ; for 't is better to be alone 
than in bad Company. 

Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for 
't is a Sign of a Tractable and Commendable Nature : & 
in all Causes of Passion admit Reason to Govern. 

Be not immodest in urging your Friends to Discover a 
Secret. 

A Man ought not to value himself of his Atchievements 
or rare Qualities, his Riches, Titles Virtue or Kindred ; 
but he need not speak meanly of himself. 

Break not a Jest where none take pleasure in Mirth ; 
Laugh not aloud, nor at all without Occasion, deride no 
man's misfortune, though there seem to be some cause. 

Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Ear- 
nest ; scoff at none although they give Occasion. 

Detract not from others neither be excessive in Com- 
mending. 



404 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

If two contend together take not the part of either un- 
constrained, and be not obstinate in your Opinion, in 
Things indifferent be of the major side. 

Reprehend not the imperfections of others for that be- 
longs to Parents Masters and Superiors. 

Gaze not at the marks or blemishes of Others and ask 
not how they came. What you may Speak in Secret to 
your Friend deliver not before others. 

Think before you speak pronounce not imperfectly nor 
bring out your Words too hastily but orderly and Dis- 
tinctly. 

Be not Curious to Know the Affairs of Others neither 
approach to those that Speak in Private. 

Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Care- 
full to Keep your Promise. 

In Disputes, be not so desirous to Overcome as not to 
give Liberty to each one to deliver his Opinion. 

Speak not Evil of the absent for it is unjust. 

When you Speak of God or his Attributes, let it be 
Seriously & with words of Reverence. Honour & obey 
your Natural Parents altho they be Poor. 

Let your Recreations be Manfull not Sinfull. 

Labour to Keep alive in your Breast that little Spark 
of Celestial fire called Conscience. 



JEFFERSON 

(A. D. 1743-1826.) 

Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States 
of America, and author of the famous " Declaration, " under 
which the independence of the " States " had been assumed, 
was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, on the 13th of 
April, 1743. He was a student at William and Mary Col- 
lege, and studied law in Williamsburg. After eight years 
of successful practice at the bar, he entered public life, and 
his professional career was practically at an end. He was 
successively a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
a member of the Continental Congress, Governor of Virginia, 
Plenipotentiary to France (1784—1789), Secretary of State 
in President Washington's cabinet, Vice President of the 
United States, and President of the United States for two 
consecutive terms. He retired to private life in 1809, and 
died at his residence, Monticello, on the 4th of July, 1826, 
— the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration 
of Independence, — almost simultaneously with the death of 
his contemporary and friend, John Adams, which occurred 
on the same day. 

The character of Jefferson and his rank in American his- 
tory are described admirably, in a few words, by Dr. John 
Fiske, in his "History of the American Revolution:" "His 
temper," says Dr. Fiske, "was exceedingly placid, and his 
disposition was sweet and sympathetic. He was deeply in- 
terested in all the generous theories of the eighteenth century 
concerning the rights of man and the perfectibility of human 
nature ; and, like most of the contemporary philosophers 
whom he admired, he was a sturdy foe to intolerance and 
priestcraft. He was in his way a much more profound 
thinker than Hamilton, though he had not such a constructive 
genius as the latter ; as a political leader he was superior to 
any other man of his age; and his warm sympathies, his 



406 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

almost feminine tact, his mastery of the dominant political 
ideas of the time, and, above all, his unbounded faith in the 
common sense , of the people and in their essential rectitude 
of purpose, served to give him one of the greatest and most 
commanding positions ever held by any personage in Ameri- 
can history." 



JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO THOMAS JEFFERSON RAN- 
DOLPH. 

(From " The Writings of Thomas Jefferson," ed. by H. A. Wash- 
ington, v. 5.) 

Washington, November 24, 1808. 

My dear Jefferson, — 

Your situation, thrown at such a distance from us, and 
alone, cannot but give us all great anxieties for you. As 
much has been secured for you, by your particular posi- 
tion and the acquaintance to which you have been recom- 
mended, as could be done towards shielding you from the 
dangers which surround you. But thrown on a wide 
world, among entire strangers, without a friend or guardian 
to advise, so young too, and with so little experience of 
mankind, your dangers are great, and still your safety 
must rest on yourself. A determination never to do what 
is wrong, prudence and good humor, will go far towards 
securing to you the estimation of the world. When I re- 
collect that at fourteen years of age, the whole care and 
direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, with- 
out a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, 
and recollect the various sorts of bad company with which 
I associated from time to time, I am astonished I did not 
turn off with some of them, and become as worthless to 
society as they were. I had the good fortune to become 
acquainted very early with some characters of very high 
standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever be- 



JEFFERSON 407 

come what they were. Under temptations and difficulties, 
I would ask myself what would Dr. Small, Mr. Wythe, 
Peyton Randolph do in this situation ? What course in 
it will insure me their approbation ? I am certain that 
this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more to cor- 
rectness than any reasoning powers I possessed. Know- 
ing the even and dignified line they pursued, I could never 
doubt for a moment which of two courses would be in 
character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object 
through a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaun- 
diced eye of youth, I should often have erred. From the 
circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the 
society of horse racers, card players, fox hunters, scientific 
and professional men, and of dignified men ; and many a 
time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of 
the death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the is- 
sue of a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in the 
great council of the nation, well, which of these kinds of 
reputation should I prefer ? That of a horse jockey ? a 
fox hunter ? an orator ? or the honest advocate of my 
country's rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that 
these little returns into ourselves, this self -catechising 
habit, is not trifling nor useless, but leads to the prudent 
selection and steady pursuit of what is right. 

I have mentioned good humor as one of the preserva- 
tives of our peace and tranquillity. It is among the most 
effectual, and its effect is so well imitated and aided, arti- 
ficially, by politeness, that this also becomes an acquisition 
of first rate value In truth, politeness is artificial good 
humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by ren- 
dering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real 
virtue. , It is the practice of sacrificing to those whom we 
meet in society, all the little conveniences and preferences 
which will gratify them, and deprive us of nothing worth 



408 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

a moment's consideration ; it is the giving a pleasing and 
flattering turn to our expressions, which will conciliate 
others, and make them pleased with us as well as them- 
selves. How cheap a price for the good will of another ! 
When this is in return for a rude thing said by another, 
it brings him to his senses, it mortifies and corrects him 
in the most salutary way, and places him at the feet of 
your good nature, in the eyes of the company. But in 
stating prudential rules for our government in society, I 
must not omit the important one of never entering into 
dispute or argument with another. I never saw an in- 
stance of one of two disputants convincing the other by 
argument. I have seen many, on their getting warm, be- 
coming rude, and shooting one another. Conviction is the 
effect of our own dispassionate reasoning, either in soli- 
tude, or weighing within ourselves, disjDassionately, what 
we hear from others, standing uncommitted in argument 
ourselves. It was one of the rules which, above all others, 
made Dr. Franklin the most amiable of men in society, 
" never to contradict anybody." If he was urged to an- 
nounce an opinion, he did it rather by asking questions, 
as if for information, or by suggesting doubts. When I 
hear another express an opinion which is not mine, I say 
to myself, he has a right to his opinion, as I to mine ; 
why should I question it ? His error does me no injury, 
and shall I become a Don Quixotte, to bring all men by 
force of argument to one opinion ? If a fact be misstated, 
it is probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and I have 
no right to deprive him of the gratification. If he wants 
information, he will ask it, and then I will give it in 
measured terms ; but if he still believes his own story, 
and shows a desire to dispute the fact with me, I hear 
him and say nothing. It is his affair, not mine, if he 
prefers error. There are two classes of disputants most 



JEFFERSON 409 

frequently to be met with among us. The first is of young 
students, just entered the threshold of science, with a first 
view of its outlines, not yet filled up with the details and 
modifications which a further progress would bring to 
their knowledge. The other consists of the ill-tempered 
and rude men in society, who have taken up a passion for 
politics. (Good humor and politeness never introduce 
into mixed society, a question on which they foresee there 
will be a difference of opinion.) From both of those 
classes of disputants, my dear Jefferson, keep aloof, as 
you would from the infected subjects of yellow fever or 
pestilence. Consider yourself, when with them, as among 
the patients of Bedlam, needing medical, more than moral 
counsel. Be a listener only, keep within yourself, and en- 
deavor to establish with yourself the habit of silence, 
especially on politics. . . . Look steadily to the pursuits 
which have carried you to Philadelphia, be very select in 
the society you attach yourself to, avoid taverns, drinkers, 
smokers, idlers, and dissipated persons generally ; for it is 
with such that broils and contentions arise ; and you will 
find your path more easy and tranquil. The limits of my 
paper warn me that it is time for me to close with my af- 
fectionate adieu. 

JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO THOMAS JEFFERSON SMITH. 

(From " The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson," by Sarah N. 
Randolph. 

A friend and admirer of Jefferson's, who had named a 
son after him, requested that he would write a letter of 
advice for his young namesake. Jefferson accordingly 
wrote the following beautiful note to be kept for him until 
the young child came to years of understanding : 



410 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

To TJiomas Jefferson Smith. 

This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The 
writer will be in the grave before you can weigh its coun- 
sels. Your affectionate and excellent father has requested 
that I would address to you something which might 
possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life 
you have to run ; and I too, as a namesake, feel an in- 
terest in that course. Few words will be necessary, with 
good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence 
and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as your- 
self, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be 
true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall 
the life into which you have entered, be the portal to one 
of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it 
is permitted to care for the things of this world, every ac- 
tion of your life will be under my regard. Farewell. 

Monticello, February 21st, 1825. 

The Portrait of a Good Man by the most sublime of 
Poets, for your Imitation. 1 

Lord, who 's the happy man that may to thy blest courts 

repair ; 
Not stranger-like to visit them, but to inhabit there ? 

'T is he whose every thought and deed by rules of virtue 

moves ; 
Whose generous tongue disdains to speak the thing his 

heart disproves ; 

Who never did a slander forge, his neighbor's fame to 

wound ; 
Nor hearken to a false report by malice whispered round ; 

1 Paraphrase of Psalm xv. 



JEFFERSON 411 

Who vice in all its pomp and power, can treat with just 

neglect ; 
And piety, though clothed in rags, religiously respect ; 

Who to his plighted vows and trust has ever firmly 

stood ; 
And though he promise to his loss, he makes his promise 

good; 

Whose soul in usury disdains his treasure to employ; 
Whom no rewards can ever bribe the guiltless to destroy ; 

The man who, by this steady course, has happiness in- 
sured, 

When earth's foundations shake, shall stand by Providence 
secured. 



A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical 

Life. 

1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to- 
day. 

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 

3. Never spend your money before you have it. 

4. Never buy what you do not want because it is 
cheap ; it will be dear to you. 

5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 

6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 

8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have 
never happened ! 

9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 

10. When angry, count ten before you speak ; if very 
angry, an hundred. 



GOETHE 

(A. D. 1749-1832.) 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the greatest of German 
poets, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main on the 28th of 
August, 1749. His family was one of comparative wealth 
and good social position. He was educated for the law, but 
gave it little attention in practice, devoting himself to liter- 
ature from his youth. In 1775, on the invitation of the 
Duke of Saxe- Weimar, he fixed his residence at Weimar, 
which became, through his influence, the literary capital of 
Germany. He was made privy councillor and president of 
the ducal chamber. His earliest tragedy, "Gotz von Ber- 
lichingen, " was produced in 1773; his youthful novel, "The 
Sorrows of Young Werther " was written in 1774. His 
greater work in prose fiction, "Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre, " 
was begun in 1777 and finished in 1796. His greatest dra- 
matic work, the tragedy of " Faust, " was under his pen for 
nearly sixty years, from 1772, when some of its scenes were 
sketched, until 1831. The first part of the drama was pub- 
lished in 1808; the second only a few months before his 
death, which occurred at Weimar on the 22d of March, 
1832. 

" Goethe is a perfect Solomon for proverbs ; they pour 
from him in floods. He has such an abundance of them to 
communicate that he is often at a loss where to find room 
for them, and puts them recklessly into the mouths of per- 
sonages who cannot reasonably be credited with such a rare 
talent for generalization. . . . He is a sage as truly as he 
is a poet, and never, unless in Shakespeare, has such another 
combination of the generalizing with the imaginative faculty 
been witnessed. But when we examine his wisdom, we find 
that it is much more than a mere instinctive habit of obser- 
vation combined with an unrivalled power of expression. 
His sentences are not mere detached fragments, or momentary 



GOETHE! 413 

flashes, of insight. They are the coherent aphorisms of a 
sort of practical philosophy. He is not merely a sage, he 
is even a philosopher. . . . He is a philosopher in a higher 
degree than any other literary man, *and has produced a 
deeper impression than any literary man upon thinkers and 
students. Though in the modern sense we hesitate to call 
him a philosopher, yet in the old sense, and in the highest 
sense of the name, few of the recognized philosophers have 
nearly so good a title to it as he. For to him philosophy 
is not merely a study, but a life; it is not summed up in 
thinking and classifying and constructing systems, but ex- 
tends to all departments of activity. And it would be diffi- 
cult to name the philosopher who has devoted himself with 
more methodical seriousness than Goethe to the problem of 
leading, and then of teaching, the best and most desirable 
kind of life. He conceives the problem in its largest possible 
extent. From prudential maxims in the style of Johnson, 
he rises to more genera] precepts on the choice of a vocation, 
pouring out a fund of wisdom peculiarly his own on the mis- 
takes men make about their own aptitudes; then he dwells 
more particularly on the life of the artist, a subject till then 
scarcely noticed by moralists, but treated by Goethe with the 
greatest comprehensiveness; then he rises to morality and 
religion. On all subjects alike he is serious; on all subjects 
perfectly unfettered. He has the advantage of a vast expe- 
rience, for he has practised many arts, tasted almost every 
literature, informed himself about every science." — J. R. 
Seeley, "Goethe reviewed after Sixty Years," ch. 3. 



GOETHE'S MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS. 

(Selected from " Maxims and Reflections from the German of 
Goethe ; " " Fraser's Magazine," March, 1876.) 

All that is wise has been thought already ; we must try, 
however, to think it again. 

How shall you learn to know yourself ? — Not by con- 
templation, but action. Strive to do your duty, and you 
will soon discover what stuff you are made of. 



414 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

But what is your duty ? — To fulfil the claims of the 
day. 

Let the active able man deserve and expect : — 
From the Great — grace ; 
From the Powerful — favour ;' 
From the Good and Active — help ; 
From the Multitude — liking ; 
From the Individual — love. 

Every one must think in his own way ; for he will al- 
ways discover some sort of truth or approximation to 
truth which helps him through his life. But he must not 
let himself drift along ; he must exercise self-control ; it 
beseems not man to allow himself to be ruled by mere in- 
stinct. 

Unlimited activity of whatever kind must at last end 
in bankruptcy. 

What we plan, what we undertake, should already be 
so clearly mapped out and so beautiful in its proportions 
that the World by interfering could only mar it. We 
should thus be in an advantageous position to adjust what 
might have got out of joint, and to replace what had been 
destroyed. 

A great mistake : to hold oneself too high and rate 
oneself too cheap. 

We are only really alive when we enjoy the goodwill 
of others. 

" One must do more when one is old than when one was 
young." 

Even the fulfilment of duty leaves a sense of being in- 
debted, because we are never thoroughly satisfied with 
ourselves. 

In contemplation, as well as in action, we must dis- 
tinguish between what is attainable and what is not : fail- 



GOETHE 415 

ing this, we can accomplish little either in life or know- 
ledge. 

Errors are not of much consequence in youth, but we 
must guard against dragging them with us into our old age. 

Superannuated errors are fusty, unprofitable lumber. 

Let memory fail so long as you can rely on your judg- 
ment at a moment's notice. 

I should say the happiest man is he who can link the 
end of his life with its commencement. 



(Selected from " Maxims and Reflections of Goethe," translated 
by Thomas Bailey Saunders.) 

One need only grow old to become gentler in one's 
judgments. I see no fault committed which I could not 
have committed myself. 

It is much easier to recognize error than to find truth ; 
for error lies on the surface and may be overcome ; but 
truth lies in the depths, and to search for it is not given 
to every one. 

Ingratitude is always a kind of weakness. I have 
never known men of ability to be ungrateful. 

There are people who make no mistakes because they 
never wish to do anything worth doing. 

If a man knows where to get good advice, it is as 
though he could supply it himself. 

In the world people take a man at his own estimate ; 
but he must estimate himself at something. Disagree- 
ableness is more easily tolerated than insignificance. 

A man's manners are the mirror in which he shows his 
portrait. 

There is a politeness of the heart, and it is allied to 
love. It produces the most agreeable politeness of outward 
demeanour. 



416 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

It is not enough to know, we must also apply; it is not 
enough to will, we must also do. 

Perfection is the measure of heaven, and the wish to be 
perfect the measure of man. 

It is not worth while to do anything for the world that 
we have with us, as the existing order may in a moment 
pass away. It is for the past and the future that we 
must work : for the past, to acknowledge its merits ; for 
the future, to try to increase its value. 

Let every man ask himself with which of his faculties 
he can and will somehow influence his age. 

Let no one think that people have waited for him as 
for the Saviour. 

Character in matters great and small consists in a man 
steadily pursuing the things of which he feels himself 
capable. 



(Selected from "The Wisdom of Goethe," by John Stuart 
Blackie.) 

Who is the happiest person ? — he whose nature asks for 
nothing that the world does not wish and use. 

Wouldst thou be a happy liver, 

Let the past be past for ever ! 

Fret not, when prigs and pedants bore you ; 

Enjoy the good that 's set before you ; 

But chiefly hate no man ; the rest 

Leave thou to God, who knows what 's best. 

Live with the world whoso has nerve 
To make the world his purpose serve; 
But if you leave your lofty level 
To do the world's vile command, 



GOETHE 417 

You were as well to let the devil 
Keep all your gear in hand. 

Use well the moment ; what the hour 

Brings for thy use is in thy power ; 

And what thou best canst understand, 

Is just the thing lies nearest to thy hand. 

Art thou little, do that little well, and for thy comfort 

know, 
The biggest man can do his biggest work no better than 

just so. 

Wouldst thou live well in the land, 
Take two wallets in thy hand, 
This to gather what you find, 
That to give with willing mind ; 
Just as princes when they travel, 
With heavy hand lay on the charges, 
And then from overflowing founts 
Of Royal bounty make a largess ! 

Like the star 

That shines afar, 

Without haste 

And without rest, 

Let each man wheel with steady sway, 

Round the task that rules the day, 

And do his best ! 



JOSEPH JOUBERT 

(A. D. 1754-1824.) 

Joseph Joubert was born at Montignac, in Perigord, 
France, in 1754. He began the study of law, but aban- 
doned it to enter the College of the Fathers of the Christian 
Doctrine, at Toulouse, where he remained for some years, 
both teaching and studying. He then removed to Paris, and 
continued to live a studious life, his home becoming one of 
the most attractive centres of the best society of the time. 
Nothing that he wrote was published until several years after 
his death, which occurred in 1824. A volume of his much 
esteemed aphorisms was then given to the world, under the 
editorship of Chateaubriand. It is from a partial translation 
of these "Pense'es, " or "Thoughts," as they were entitled, 
that the selection given below is borrowed. A more complete 
publication of Joubert 's writings, including his correspond- 
ence, was made in France in 1842. 



SELECTIONS FROM THE PENSEES OF JOUBERT. 
(Translated by Henry Atwell.) 

The passions must be purified. They may all become 
innocent if well directed and controlled. Hatred itself 
may be a praiseworthy emotion if provoked in us by a 
lively love of good. 

If you are poor, distinguish yourself by your virtues ; 
if rich, by your good deeds. 

Be saving ; but not at the cost of all liberality. Have 
the soul of a king, and the hand of a wise economist. 

Living requires but little life ; doing requires much. 

We should always keep open and free a corner of our 



JOSEPH JOUBERT 419 

head in which to make room for the opinions of our 
friends. Let us have heart and head hospitality. 

It is better to debate a question without settling it, than 
to settle it without debate. 

Politeness is a sort of guard which covers the rough 
edges of our character, and prevents their wounding oth- 
ers. We should never throw it off, even in our conflicts 
with coarse people. 

Consult the ancients, listen to the aged. He is far 
from wise who has but his own wisdom, and but indiffer- 
ently learned who possesses but his own knowledge. 

To think what we do not feel is to lie to one's-self. 
Whatever we think should be thought by our whole being, 
soul and body. 

Men must either be the slaves of duty or of force. 

Order is the co-ordination of the means to the end, of 
the parts to the whole, of the whole to its destination, of 
action to duty, of a work to its model, of recompense to 
merit. 

Order is to arrangement what the soul is to the body, 
and what mind is to matter. Arrangement without order 
is a body without a soul. 

Imitate time. It destroys slowly. It undermines, 
wears, loosens, separates. It does not uproot. 

Let us bear well in mind that education does not con- 
sist merely in adorning the memory and enlightening the 
understanding. Its main business should be to direct the 
will. 



ROBERT BURNS 

(A. D. 1759-1796.) 

In some important matters of morals, Robert Burns was 
better fitted to be a teacher by warning example than by- 
precept, as he himself tacitly confesses in the last couplet of 
the verses subjoined. But there was a fine true quality in 
his nature, at the bottom, which imparts perfect genuineness 
to the good advice contained in this "Epistle to a Young 
Friend, " and assures us of the sincerity with which it was 
given. The "Epistle" was written in 1786, the year in 
which his first volume of poems was published, at Kilmar- 
nock, and in which he first visited Edinburgh. He wrote it 
just before fame came to him, and when he was undoubtedly 
at his best, in every way. The date and the sentiment of 
the little poem lend great interest to it in connection with 
the life of Burns. He was but twenty-seven years old when 
he wrote it; for he was born at Alloway, near Ayr, Scot- 
land, in 1759. He lived but ten years after writing it, 
dying at Dumfries in 1796. 



BURNS' EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND. 

I lang hae thought, my youthfu' friend, 

A something to have sent you, 
Tho' it should serve nae ither end 

Than just a kind memento. 
But how the subject-theme may gang, 

Let time and chance determine; 
Perhaps it may turn out a sang ; 

Perhaps, turn out a sermon. 



ROBERT BURNS 421 

Ye '11 try the world soon, my lad ; 

And, Andrew dear, believe me, 
Ye '11 find mankind an unco 1 squad, 

And muckle they may grieve ye : 
For care and trouble set your thought, 

Ev'n when your end 's attained ; 
And a' your views may come to nought, 

Where ev'ry nerve is strained. 

I '11 no say, men are villains a' ; 

The real, harden'd wicked, 
Wha hae nae check but human law, 

Are to a few restricket ; 
But och ! mankind are unco 2 weak, 

An' little to be trusted ; 
If self the wavering balance shake, 

It 's rarely right adjusted ! 

Yet they wha fa' in fortune's strife, 

Their fate we shouldna censure ; 
For still, th' important end of life 

They equally may answer : 
A man may hae an honest heart, 

Tho' poortith 3 hourly stare him ; 
A man may tak a neibor's part, 

Yet hae nae cash to spare him. 

Ay free, aff han', your story tell, 

When wi' a bosom crony; 
But still keep something to yoursel 

Ye scarcely tell to ony : 
Conceal yoursel as weel 's ye can 

Frae critical dissection ; 

1 Strange. 2 Uncommonly. 3 Poverty. 



422 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

But keek * thro' ev'ry other man, 
Wi' sharpen'd, sly inspection. 

The sacre'd lowe 2 o' weel-plac'd love, 

Luxuriantly indulge it ; 
But never tempt th' illicit rove, 

Tho' naething should divulge it : 
I waive the quantum o' the sin, 

The hazard of concealing ; 
But och ! it hardens a' within, 

And petrifies the feeling! 

To catch dame Fortune's golden smile, 

Assiduous wait upon her ; 
And gather gear by ev'ry wile 

That 's justify'd by honor ; 
Not for to hide it in a hedge, 

Nor for a train attendant ; 
But for the glorious privilege 

Of being independent. 

The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip, 

To haud 3 the wretch in order ; 
But where ye feel your honor grip, 

Let that ay be your border : 
Its slightest touches, instant pause — 

Debar a' side-pretences ; 
And resolutely keep its laws, 

Uncaring consequences. 

The great Creator to revere 

Must sure become the creature ; 

But still the preaching cant forbear, 
And ev'n the rigid feature : 

1 Peer keenly. 2 Flame. 3 Hold, keep. 



ROBERT BURNS 423 

Yet ne'er with wits profane to range, 

Be complaisance extended ; 
An atheist laugh 's a poor exchange 

For Deity offended ! 

When ranting round in pleasure's ring, 

Religion may be blinded ; 
Or if she gie 1 a random sting, 

It may be little minded ; 
But when on life we 're tempest-driv'n — 

A conscience but 2 a canker — 
A correspondence fix'd wi' Heaven, 

Is sure a noble anchor. 

Adieu, dear, amiable youth ! 

Your heart can ne'er be wanting ! 
May prudence, fortitude, and truth, 

Erect your brow undaunting ! 
In ploughman phrase, " God send you speed," 

Still daily to grow wiser ; 
And may ye better reck the rede 3 

Than ever did th' adviser ! 

1 Give. 2 Without. 3 Attend to the counsel. 






JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER 

(A. D. 1763-1825.) 

"Richter, " writes Carlyle, whose thought and style were 
profoundly influenced by him, "was born at Wonsiedel in 
Baireuth, in the year 1763; and as his birthday fell on the 
21st of March, it was sometimes wittily said that he and 
the Spring were born together. . . . Destiny, he seems to 
think, made another witticism on him; the word Richter 
being appellative as well as proper, in the German tongue, 
where it signifies Judge. His Christian name, Jean Paul, 
which long passed for some freak of his own, and a pseudo- 
nym, he seems to have derived honestly enough from his 
maternal grandfather, Johann Paul Kuhn, a substantial cloth- 
maker in Hof ; only translating the German Johann into the 
French Jean. The Richters, for at least two generations, 
had been schoolmasters, or very subaltern churchmen, distin- 
guished for their poverty and their piety; the grandfather, 
it appears, is still remembered in his little circle as a man of 
quite remarkable innocence and holiness. . . . The father, 
who at this time occupied the humble post of Tertius (Under- 
schoolmaster) and Organist at Wonsiedel, was shortly after- 
wards appointed Clergyman in the hamlet of Jodiz; and 
thence, in the course of years, transferred to Schwarzenbach 
on the Saale." The removal to Schwarzenbach occurred in 
the thirteenth year of Jean Paul. Three years later the 
father died, leaving his family in poverty and debt. Never- 
theless, suffering infinite hardships, Paul struggled through 
the Hof Gymnasium and through Leipzig University, and 
entered his career of authorship at nineteen, when he pro- 
duced the satirical sketches which he called " Gronlandische 
Prozesse " (Greenland Lawsuits). "He lived as the young 
ravens; he was often in danger of starving. ' The prisoner's 
allowance, ' says he, ' is bread and water ; but I had only the 
latter.' . . . Richter does not anywhere appear to have 



RICHTER 425 

faltered in his progress ; for a moment to have lost heart, or 
even to have lost good humour." In 1784 he rejoined his 
mother, who had taken up her residence at Hof, and the 
family, sometimes including several brothers, lived in a single 
apartment. It was not till 1788 that he could find a pub- 
lisher for his next book, the "Selection from the Papers of 
the Devil," and then few readers. "It appears that the 
' Unsichtbare Loge ' (Invisible Lodge) sent forth from the 
Hof spinning establishment in 1793, was the first of his 
works that obtained any decisive favour. . . . With the 
appearance of ' Hesperus, ' another wondrous novel, which 
proceeded from the same 'single apartment,' in 1796, the 
siege may be said to have terminated by storm." In 1797 
the mother died, and in the following year Richter married, 
settling himself shortly afterwards at Weimar, where he 
lived for several years "in high favour with whatever was 
most illustrious in that city. . . . 

" ' Titan, ' one of his chief romances (published at Berlin 
in 1800), was written during his abode at Weimar; so like- 
wise the ' Flegeljahre ' (Wild Oats) ; and the Eulogy of 
' Charlotte Corday.' . . . Richter's other novels published 
prior to this period are the ' Invisible Lodge ; ' the ' Sie- 
benkas ' (or Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces) ; the ' Life of 
Quintus Fixlein ; ' the ' Jubalsenior ' (Parson in Jubilee) : 
'Jean Paul's Letters and Future History,' the ' De'jeuner 
in Kuchschnappel, ' the ' Biographical Recreations under the 
Cranium of a Giantess,' scarcely belonging to this species. 
The novels published afterwards are the ' Leben Fibels ' (Life 
of Fibel); ' Katzenbergers Badereise ' (Katzenberger's Jour- 
ney to the Bath) ; ' Schmelzles Reise nach Flatz ' (Schmelzle's 
Journey to Flatz) ; the ' Comet, ' named also * Nicholaus 
Margraf.' . . . 

"We hope many will agree with us in honouring Richter, 
such as he was; and, ' in spite of his hundred real, and his 
ten thousand seeming faults, ' discern under this wondrous 
guise the spirit of a true Poet and Philosopher. A Poet, 
and among the highest of his time we must reckon him, 
though he wrote no verses ; a Philosopher, though he promul- 
gated no systems: for, on the whole, that ' Divine Idea of 
the World ' stood in clear, ethereal light before his mind ; he 
recognized the Invisible, even under the mean forms of these 



426 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

days, and with a high, strong, not uninspired heart, strove 
to represent it in the Visible, and publish tidings of it to 
his f ellowmen. " — Thomas Caklyle, "Jean Paul Friedrich 
Richter again" ("Miscellanies," v. iii.). 

In the fictitious "Life of Quintus Fixlein, " Jean Paul, 
himself one of the characters and the narrator of the story, 
notes down the following Rules of Life, for his own guidance 
and that of his friends : — 



QUINTUS FIXLEIN'S RULES OF LIFE. 

(From Richter's " Life of Quintus Fixlein," translated by Thomas 

Carlyle.) 

Little joys refresh us constantly like house-bread, and 
never bring disgust; and great ones, like sugar-bread, 
briefly, and then bring it. 

Trifles we should let, not plague us only, but also grat- 
ify us ; we should seize not their poison-bags only, but 
their honey-bags also ; and if flies often buzz about our 
room, we should, like Domitian, amuse ourselves with 
flies, or like a certain still living Elector, feed them. 

For civic life and its micrologies, for which the parson 
has a natural taste, we must acquire an artificial one ; 
must learn to love without esteeming it ; learn, far as it 
ranks beneath human life, to enjoy it like another twig of 
this human life, as poetically as we do the pictures of it 
in romances. The loftiest mortal loves and seeks the same 
sort of things with the meanest ; only from higher grounds 
and by higher paths. Be every minute, Man, a full life 
to thee ! 

Despise anxiety and wishing, the Future and the Past ! 

If the /Second-pointer can be no road-pointer into an 
Eden for thy soul, the Month-pointer will still less be so, 
for thou livest not from month to month, but from second 
to second ! Enjoy thy Existence more than thy Manner 



RICHTER 427 

of Existence, and let the dearest object of thy Conscious- 
ness be this Consciousness itself ! 

Make not the Present a means of thy Future ; for this 
Future is nothing but a coming Present ; and the Pre- 
sent, which thou despisest, was once a Future which thou 
desiredest ! 

Stake in no lotteries, — keep at home, — give and ac- 
cept no pompous entertainments, — travel not abroad 
every year ! 

Conceal not from thyself, by long plans, thy household 
goods, thy chamber, thy acquaintance. 

Despise Life, that thou mayst enjoy it ! 

Inspect the neighborhood of thy life ; every shelf, every 
nook of thy abode ; and nestling in, quarter thyself in the 
farthest and most domestic winding of thy snail-house ! 

Look upon a capital but as a collection of villages, a vil- 
lage as some blind-alley of a capital; fame as the talk of 
neighbors at the street-door ; a library as a learned con- 
versation, joy as a second, sorrow as a minute, life as a 
day ; and three things as all in all : God, Creation, 
Virtue ! 



WORDSWORTH 

(A. D. 1770-1850.) 

William Wordsworth, one of the greatest of English 
poets, was born at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, England, 
on the 7th of April, 1770. His father, John Wordsworth, 
was law-agent of Sir James Lowther, afterwards Earl of 
Lonsdale. The future poet was educated, first at a school 
in Hawkshead, and then at St. John's College, Cambridge. 
He travelled and lived during several years in France and 
elsewhere on the Continent ; and, after several changes of 
English residence, settled with his devoted sister Dorothy in 
the Westmoreland Lake Country, where the remainder of his 
life was passed in meditation and poetical composition. He 
married happily in 1802. In 1843, on the death of his 
friend Southey, he was appointed Poet Laureate. His death 
occurred in 1850. 

The noble poem quoted below, entitled "The Happy War- 
rior, " was inspired by the death of Lord Nelson, in 1805, fol- 
lowing the loss, in that same year, of the poet's brother, John 
Wordsworth, captain of an East Indiaman, whose ship was 
sunk by an incompetent pilot. He drew a blended portrait, 
joining the two heroic memories in one grand ideal. He 
"had recourse," says Mr. F. W. H. Myers, "to the charac- 
ter of his own brother John for the qualities in which the 
great Admiral appeared to him to have been deficient. . . . 
And surely these two natures taken together make the perfect 
Englishman. Nor is there any portrait fitter than that of 
' The Happy Warrior ' to go forth to all lands as represent- 
ing the English character at its height — a figure not ill- 
matching with ' Plutarch's men.' For indeed this short 
poem is itself a manual of greatness; there is a Roman 
majesty in its simple and weighty speech." 



WORDSWORTH 429 

CHARACTER OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR. 
(By William Wordsworth.) 

Who is the happy warrior ? Who is he 
Whom every man in arms should wish to be ? 

— It is the generous spirit, who, when brought 
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought 
Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought : 
Whose high endeavours are an inward light 
That make the path before him always bright ; 
Who, with a natural instinct to discern 

What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn ; 
Abides by this resolve, and stops not there, 
But makes his moral being his prime care ; 
Who, doom'd to go in company with pain, 
And fear, and bloodshed, miserable train ! 
Turus his necessity to glorious gain ; 
In face of these doth exercise a power 
Which is our human nature's highest dower ; 
Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves 
Of their bad influence, and their good receives ; 
By objects which might force the soul to abate 
Her feeling, render'd more compassionate ; 
Is placable — because occasions rise 
So often that demand such sacrifice ; 
More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure 
As tempted more ; more able to endure, 
As more exposed to suffering and distress 
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness. 

— 'T is he whose law is reason ; who depends 
Upon that law as on the best of friends ; 
Whence, in a state where men are tempted still 
To evil for a guard against worse ill, 



430 - A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

And what in quality or act is best 
Doth seldom on a right foundation rest, 
He fixes good on good alone, and owes 
To virtue every triumph that he knows ; 

— Who, if he rise to station of command, 
Rises by open means ; and there will stand 
On honourable terms, or else retire 

And in himself possess his own desire ; 

Who comprehends his trust, and to the same 

Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim ; 

And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait 

For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state ; 

Whom they must follow ; on whose head must fall, 

Like showers of manna, if they come at all ; 

Whose powers shed round him in the common strife, 

Or mild concerns of ordinary life, 

A constant influence, a peculiar grace ; 

But who, if he be call'd upon to face 

Some awful moment to which Heaven has join'd 

Great issues, good or bad for human kind, 

Is happy as a lover ; and attired 

With sudden brightness, like a man inspired ; 

And through the heat of conflict, keeps the law 

In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw ; 

Or if an unexpected call succeed, 

Come when it will, is equal to the need : 

— He who, though thus endued as with a sense 
And faculty for storm and turbulence, 

Is yet a soul whose master bias leans 

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes ; 

Sweet images ! which, wheresoe'er he be, 

Are at his heart ; and such fidelity 

It is his darling passion to approve ; 

More brave for this, that he hath much to love : 



WORDSWORTH 431 

'T is, finally, the man, who, lifted high, 
Conspicuous object in a nation's eye, 
Or left unthought of in obscurity, — 
Who with a toward or untoward lot, 
Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not, 
Plays, in the many games of life, that one 
Where what he most doth value must be won ; 
Whom neither shape of danger can dismay, 
Nor thought of tender happiness betray ; 
Who, not content that former worth stand fast, 
Looks forward, persevering to the last, 
From well to better, daily self-surpass'd : 
Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth, 
For ever, and to noble deeds give birth, 
Or he must go to dust without his fame, 
And leave a dead, unprofitable name, 
Finds comfort in himself and in his cause ; 
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws 
His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause : 
This is the happy warrior ; this is he 
Whom every man in arms should wish to be. 



ZSCHOKKE 

(A. D. 1771-1848.) 

Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke, celebrated as an 
author, as a teacher, and as a public-spirited citizen, was 
born at Magdeburg, Germany, in 1771 ; but settled in Switz- 
erland in 1796, and became a citizen of that republic. He 
was a voluminous writer, his collected works filling forty- 
volumes, including ten volumes of tales, many of them much 
admired, besides religious, historical, and economic writings. 
The most noted of Zschokke 's books is the "Stunden der 
Andacht, " translated into English under the title "Medita- 
tions on Life, Death, and Eternity," from which the counsel 
given hereunder is quoted. Its author died in 1848. 



ON THE OVERCOMING OF FAULTS. 

(From "Meditations on Life, Death, and Eternity," by Zschokke, 
translated by Frederica Rowan.) 

When a man intends to sketch out a plan of some 
great and important undertaking relative to worldly 
matters, he first weighs and examines calmly and care- 
fully what means will be most likely to help him to 
achieve his object; considers the circumstances amid 
which he will have to act ; measures the extent of his 
own powers in respect of the undertaking ; and even cal- 
culates the obstacles which he may possibly have to en- 
counter, and ponders beforehand on the best means of 
overcoming them. . . . Dost thou think that the elevat- 
ing, perfecting, and sanctifying of thy soul require less 
effort and reflection than the increase of thy revenue, 



ZSCHOKKE 433 

or of the consideration in which thou art held by the 
world? . . . 

Do not begin by making a solemn promise to God that 
thou wilt at once become a holier being, and that thou 
wilt conquer all thy faults and all thy passions ; for expe- 
rience ought to have taught thee ere this, that thou wilt 
be unable to fulfill this rash promise. 

On the contrary, ask thyself first : Wherein am I most 
faulty? Which are the defects in my character which 
more especially lead me to commit unjust acts? And 
which is the one among these defects which is most injuri- 
ous to myself and to others ? Thou wilt never have any 
difficulty in discovering these faults, for thy conscience, 
that is to say, the sacred though faint voice of thy spirit 
which is yearning for perfection, will aid thee in detect- 
ing them. 

Then inquire further : Whence comes this defect ? Is 
it owing to my early education? Or is it a consequence 
of the power of outward things over me? Or the effect 
of my temperament? Or is it, perhaps, caused by a still 
more deep-seated or concealed passion, or the result of 
some bad habit indulged in till it has become, as it were, 
second nature? 

And when thou hast thus fathomed the cause from 
which thy principal defect springs, then consider the cir- 
cumstances amidst which thou livest, and the character of 
the persons by whom thou art surrounded ; reflect earnestly 
upon what would be the most effective means of prevent- 
ing these from calling forth this fault in you, and of ren- 
dering it innoxious to them and to thee. To do this, it 
is not sufficient to make an impulsive resolution. Thou 
must take a calm and deliberate survey of all the means 
that may be available for conquering the fault, whether it 
arise from thy education, thy temperament, or from habit. 



434 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

Probably thou mayst not succeed in getting the better 
of it for some days, or even weeks or months. The evil 
tendency will, no doubt, often assail thee anew ; but thou 
wilt nevertheless be able to keep it in check and gradually 
to conquer it, if, each time it stirs within thee, thou wilt 
recall to mind thy noble resolve, and say to thyself : " Now 
is the time to show strength of mind, and to exercise 
power over my lower nature." Avoid everything that is 
likely to tempt thee and to make thee forget thyself; but 
when thou canst not do so, then exert thyself to the ut- 
most to master thy feelings, and to act in such manner 
that thou needst not be ashamed even were the whole 
world to witness thy conduct. But never place thyself in 
the way of temptation in order to test thy strength. 
They who expose themselves to temptation are sure, sooner 
or later, to succumb. The only means of destroying our 
evil tendencies and of conquering our weaknesses, is by 
never rousing them. If they are never called into activ- 
ity, our faults at last die out of themselves. 

Do not attempt too much at once. First conquer the 
greatest obstacles in thy way to perfection, afterwards 
the others will be the more easily subdued. Attack thine 
enemies singly, if thou wouldst be victor. To wage war 
against all, at one and the same time, might prove too 
much for thy strength, and might end in robbing thee of 
all energy and hope. 

In like manner, it is easier, in daily life, to keep a 
strict guard over thyself, when thou hast only one enemy, 
though it be the strongest, and the greatest, to observe 
and to combat. This will allow thee to concentrate thy 
strength, which must, on the contrary, be divided, if thou 
undertakest ever to keep carefully before thy mind every 
precept of Christianity, and anxiously to weigh and to 
test thy every thought and word. To carry out such an 
attempt exceeds the measure of human strength. 



ZSCIIOKKE 435 

Be without guile, take men as they are, and let thy in- 
tercourse with them be simple and straightforward, with- 
out always weighing and calculating results ; but never 
for one moment lose sight of thy chief enemy, thy beset- 
ting sin. 



MADAME SWETCHINE 

(A. D. 1782-1859.) 

Madame Swetchine — Sophie Soymonoff in her maiden- 
hood — was of high Russian birth, and lived for a time the 
life of the Russian court, as maid of honor to the Empress 
Marie, unhappy wife of the Czar Paul I. At the bidding of 
her parents she married General Swetchine, who was many 
years her senior in age and with whom she had few tastes or 
interests in common; but he gained her esteem and she lived 
with him not unhappily until he died, in 1850, at the age 
of ninety-two. In 1816 they changed their residence to 
Paris, and there she became the central spirit of a social 
circle both morally and intellectually distinguished. She 
had already withdrawn herself from the Greek Church to 
join the Roman, and was, by her nature, sincerely devout. 
Her piety, however, had no ascetic taint. She enjoyed so- 
ciety, and, according to the French phrase, "established a 
salon," which was famous for its charm. Its doors were 
open to her guests from three o'clock in the afternoon until 
six, and from nine in the evening until midnight. After 
that hour, it appears, she gave some time to noting such 
thoughts as are quoted in the selections that follow. Yet 
she rose before sunrise, and spent early hours in attending 
church and visiting the poor. 

Madame Swetchine lived to the ripe age of seventy-seven 
years, dying in 1859. During her life she published no- 
thing. Only her friends had known of the Thoughts she had 
written down in her meditative hours. After her death they 
were given to the world, and the world is richer for the gift. 



MADAME SWETCHINE 437 

SELECTIONS FROM THE « AIRELLES " AND 
"THOUGHTS" OF MADAME SWETCHINE. 

(From the " Writings of Madame Swetcliine," translated by H. W. 

Preston.) 

Those who have suffered much are like those who know 
many languages : they have learned to understand and be 
understood by all. 

Let us desire no more intellect than is requisite for 
perfect goodness, and that is no small degree ; for good- 
ness consists in a knowledge of all the needs of others, 
and all the means of supplying them which exist within 
ourselves. 

Let us resist the opinion of the world fearlessly, pro- 
vided only that our self-respect grows in proportion to 
our indifference. 

Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity. 

Providence has willed that all the virtues should origi- 
nate in actual wants, and all the vices in factitious ones. 

It is by doing right that we arrive at just principles of 
action. 

He who has never denied himself for the sake of giving, 
has but glanced at the joys of charity. We owe our 
superfluity ; and, to be happy in the performance of our 
duty, we must exceed it. 

How can that gift leave a trace, which has left no 
void? 

" Is not life useful when it is happy? " asks the egotist. 
" Is it not sufficiently happy when it is useful ? " asks the 
good man. 

Let us exceed our appointed duties, and keep within 
our lawful pleasures. 

Repentance is accepted remorse. 

Let us not fail to scatter along our pathway the seeds 



438 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

of kindness and sympathy. Some of them will doubtless 
perish ; but if one only lives, it will perfume our steps 
and rejoice our eyes. 

There is nothing at all in life, except what we put 
there. 

It is a mercy to the rich that there are poor. Alms is 
but the material life of the latter: it is, at least in a 
degree, the spiritual life of the former. 

There are not good things enough in life to indemnify 
us for the neglect of a single duty. 

There is a transcendent power in example. We reform 
others unconsciously when we walk uprightly. 

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only 
through what we refuse. 

The best advice on the art of being happy is about as 
easy to follow as advice to be well when one is sick. 

To do nothing is not always to lose one's time. To do 
what we do carelessly, is to lose it inevitably. It is weari- 
ness without profit. 

We forgive too little — forget too much. 

Youth should be a savings-bank. 

There are two ways of attaining an important end, — 
force and perseverance. Force falls to the lot only of the 
privileged few, but austere and sustained perseverance 
can be practised by the most insignificant. 



SCHOPENHAUER 

(A. D. 1788-1860.) 

Arthur Schopenhauer, who is called the philosopher of 
Pessimism, was born at Dantzic, before it became a Prussian 
city, on the 22d of February, 1788, and died at Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, in September, 1860. His father was a wealthy 
merchant, of Dutch descent, — a man of superior character 
and education, whose memory was held in reverence by the 
son, though he died while the latter was a youth. His 
mother was a woman of talent, but so different from himself 
in disposition that they lived apart, by common agreement, 
after the father's death. "As long as you are what you 
are," wrote his mother to him when he was nineteen, "I 
would rather bring any sacrifice than consent to live with you. 
Your eternal quibbles, your laments over the stupid world 
and human misery give me bad nights and unpleasant dreams." 
Thus early he had acquired the view of the world and of 
human life which inspired his pessimistic philosophy. Ac- 
cording to his own statement, he had fully matured his philo- 
sophical system before he was twenty-seven. At thirty he 
had finished the work in which it is mainly set forth. This, 
of which the translated title is "The World as Will and as 
Idea, " drew little attention for many years ; but Schopen- 
hauer lived to see it rank with the greatest productions of 
German thought. Its influence on the deeper thinking of the 
world — ■ and perhaps quite as much in the minds that reject 
its fundamental doctrine as in the minds that accept it — has 
been of steady growth to the present day. 

But his principal work is by no means the sole source of 
the influence which Schopenhauer has caused to be felt. He 
wrote on Ethics and on Art, especially on Music, not only 
with profound originality and suggestiveness, but with a 
charm of imagination and wit, and with a deftness of literary 
touch, which are unique in the writings of German philoso- 



440 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

phers. Of his ethical doctrines, a remarkably comprehensive 
summary is contained in a few sentences that we will quote 
from Miss Helen Zimmer's little book entitled "Arthur Scho- 
penhauer: His Life and Philosophy." "Schopenhauer's 
ethics, " says Miss Zimmer, " are implied in the leading prin- 
ciple of his system. Everything hinges upon the affirmation 
or negation of ' the Will to live.' . . . All wrongdoing is in 
the last analysis resolvable into contempt for the rights of 
others, into pursuit of one's own advantage, in affirmation 
of ' the Will to live' at their expense. In its coarsest form 
this implies the commission of crimes of violence punishable 
by the legislator, but between these and the most refined 
forms of egotism the difference is merely one of degree. 
Right moral action can spring only from the recognition of 
the essential evil of the phenomenal world, and the deliberate 
resolve to reduce it to a minimum. The secret of this lies 
in one word, abnegation. ' The Will to live ' comprehends 
self-assertion in every form and shape, and as every chari- 
table action involves the denial of self in some respect, it 
follows that Schopenhauer's morality is in the main equiva- 
lent to the inculcation of universal philanthropy. ... It 
will be at once apparent that in its practical ethical aspect 
Schopenhauer's teaching differs in nothing from Buddhism. 
The reference of all existence to egotistic desire, the conclu- 
sion that as such it must be essentially evil, the further corol- 
lary that the road to the extinction of sorrow can only lie 
through the extinction of desire, and that this can only be at- 
tained by the mortification of every passion ; these are the 
very commonplaces of Buddhistic teaching. The spirit in which 
they are urged is indeed very different. No two things can 
be much more dissimilar than Schopenhauer's angry invec- 
tive and Buddha's mild persuasiveness; nor perhaps is the 
whole body of his ethical doctrine so expressive as Buddha's 
matchless definition of virtue : ' The agreement of the Will 
with the Conscience.' Substantially, however, the accord- 
ance is perfect." 

The practical inculcations to which his doctrines led are 
exemplified in the following maxims, culled from a transla- 
tion of the first and second parts of Schopenhauer's "Aphor- 
ismen zur Lebensweisheit." 



SCHOPENHAUER 441 

SELECTED PASSAGES FROM SCHOPENHAUER'S "APH- 
ORISMS ON THE WISDOM OF LIFE." 

(From a translation by T. Bailey Saunders, M. A., published by 
Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., in two parts, respectively en- 
titled " The Wisdom of Life " and " Counsels and Maxims.") 

What a man has in himself is . . . the chief element 
in his happiness. . . . 

What a man is, and so what he has in his own person, 
is always the chief thing to consider ; for his individuality 
accompanies him always and everywhere, and gives its 
color to all his experiences. . . . 

The man who is cheerful and merry has always a good 
reason for being so, — the fact, namely, that he is so. . . . 
Nothing contributes so little to cheerfulness as riches, or 
so much as health. . . . 

The most general survey shows us that the two foes of 
happiness are pain and boredom. We may go further, 
and say that in the degree in which we are fortunate 
enough to get away from the one, we approach the other. 
Life presents, in fact, a more or less violent oscillation 
between the two. . . . Needy surroundings and poverty 
produce pain ; while, if a man is more than well off he is 
bored. . . . Nothing is so good a protection ... as in- 
ward wealth, the wealth of the mind, because the greater 
it grows the less room it leaves for boredom. 

Ordinary people think merely how they shall spend 
their time ; a man of intellect tries to use it. 

The conclusion we come to is that the man whom nature 
has endowed with intellectual wealth is the happiest. . . . 
The man of inner wealth wants nothing from outside but 
the negative gift of undisturbed leisure, to develop and 
mature his intellectual faculties, that is, to enjoy his 
wealth ; in short he wants permission to be himself, his 
whole life long, every day and every hour. . . . 



442 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

The value we set upon the opinion of others, and our 
constant endeavour in respect of it, are each quite out of 
proportion to any result we may reasonably hope to attain ; 
so that this attention to other people's attitude may be 
regarded as a kind of universal mania which every one 
inherits. In all we do, almost the first thing we think 
about is, what will people say; and nearly half the 
troubles and bothers of life may be traced to our anxiety 
on this score. . . . 

Honour is, on its objective side, other people's opinion 
of what we are worth ; on its subjective side, it is the 
respect we pay to this opinion. From the latter point of 
view, to be a man of honour is to exercise what is often a 
very wholesome, but by no means a purely moral influ- 
ence. . . . 

The ultimate foundation of honour is the conviction 
that moral character is unalterable : a single bad action 
implies that future actions of the same kind will, under 
similar circumstances, also be bad. . . . 

Fame is something which must be won ; honour, only 
something which must not be lost. The absence of fame 
is obscurity, which is only a negative ; but loss of honour 
is shame, which is a positive quality. . . . 

The first and foremost rule for the wise conduct of life 
seems to me to be contained in a view to which Aristotle 
parenthetically refers in the Nichomachean Ethics : . . . 
not pleasure, but freedom from pain, is what the wise man 
will aim at. . . . 

A man who desires to make up the book of his life 
and determiue where the balance of happiness lies, must 
put down in his accounts, not the pleasures which he 
has enjoyed, but the evils which he has escaped. . . . 
To live happily only means to live less unhappily — to 
live a tolerable life. There is no doubt that life is 



SCHOPENHAUER 443 

given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome — to be 
got over. . . . 

The fool rushes after the pleasures of life and finds 
himself their dupe ; the wise man avoids its evils. . . . 

The safest way of not being very miserable is not to 
expect to be very happy. . . . 

To estimate a man's condition in regard to happiness, 
it is necessary to ask, not what things please him, but 
what things trouble him ; and the more trivial these tilings 
are in themselves, the happier the man will be. . . . 

Another important element in the wise conduct of life 
is to preserve a proper proportion between our thought for 
the present and our thought for the future ; in order not 
to spoil the one by paying over-great attention to the 
other. Many live too much in the present — frivolous 
people, I mean ; others too much in the future, ever anx- 
ious and full of care. . . . 

Peace of mind is impossible without a considerable 
amount of solitude. . . . Let me advise you ... to form 
the habit of taking some of your solitude with you into 
society, to learn to be to some extent alone even though 
you are in company. . . . Society is . . . like a fire — 
the wise man warming himself at a proper distance from 
it. . . . 

Envy is natural to man ; and still it is at once a vice 
and a source of misery. We should treat it as the enemy 
of our happiness, and stifle it like an evil thought. This 
is the advice given by Seneca ; as he well puts it, we shall 
be pleased with what we have if we avoid the self-torture 
of comparing our own lot with some other and happier 
one. . . . 

We should . . . open our eyes wide to all [the] enor- 
mity [of our faults], in order that we may firmly resolve 
to avoid them in time to come. . . . 



444 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

We should sometimes try to look upon our possessions 
in the light in which they would appear if we had lost 
them. ... It is usually only when we have lost them 
that we begin to find out their value. . . . 

Self-control may not appear so very difficult if we con- 
sider that every man has to submit to a great deal of very 
severe control on the part of his surroundings. ... A 
little self-control at the right moment may prevent much 
subsequent compulsion at the hands of others. . . . 

Activity ! — doing something, if possible creating some- 
thing, at any rate learning something — how fortunate it 
is that men cannot exist without that ! A man wants to 
use his strength, to see, if he can, what effect it will pro- 
duce ; and he will get the most complete satisfaction of 
this desire if he can make or construct something — be it 
a book or a basket. . . . 

If you have to live amongst men, you must allow every 
one the right to exist in accordance with the character he 
has, whatever it turns out to be ; and all you should strive 
to do is to make use of this character in such a way as its 
kind and nature permit, rather than to hope for any alter- 
ation in it, or to condemn it offhand for what it is. This 
is the true sense of the maxim — " Live and let live.". . . 

No man can see over his own height. . . . You cannot 
see in another man any more than you have in your- 
self. . . . 

He who can see truly in the midst of general infatua- 
tion is like a man whose watch keeps good time, when all 
clocks in the town in which he lives are wrong. He 
alone knows the right time ; but what use is that to him ? 
for every one goes by the clocks which speak false. . . . 

A man shows his character just in the way in which he 
deals with trifles, — for then he is off his guard. . . . 

To observe and blame faults in another is a very suit- 



SCHOPENHAUER 445 

able way of becoming conscious of one's own. "We require 
a looking glass for the due dressing of our morals. . . . 

Politeness is like a counter — an avowedly false coin, 
with which it is foolish to be stingy. . . . 

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to 
wax. . . . 

If you want your judgment to be accepted, express it 
coolly and without passion. 

Money is never spent to so much advantage as when 
you have been cheated out of it ; for at one stroke you 
have purchased prudence. 






THOMAS CARLYLE 

(A. D. 1795-1881.) 

Thomas Carlyle was born at Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, 
Scotland, December 4, 1795. His parents were in humble 
life, but he won his way through Edinburgh University, and 
supported himself by teaching and writing until his pen found 
continuous employment. He married Miss Jane Baillie 
Welsh in 1826, and removed from Edinburgh to Craigenput- 
toch in 1828. In 1834 he went to London and settled his 
residence at Chelsea, in Cheyne Row, where he lived until 
his death, which occurred on the 4th of February, 1881. 
His " Life of Schiller " was first published in the " London 
Magazine " in 1823—24, and in book form in 1825 ; his 
translation of Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister " in 1824; "Sar- 
tor Resartus " in "Fraser's Magazine," in 1833—34; the 
"French Revolution" in 1837; "Chartism" in 1839; "He- 
roes and Hero-worship" in 1841; "Past and Present" in 
1843; "Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches" in 1845; 
"Latter-day Pamphlets " in 1850; "Life of John Stirling" 
in 1851; "History of Friedrich II., called the Great," in 
1858-65. 

CARLYLE'S VIEW OF LIFE. 
(From " Sartor Resartus," ch. ix.) 

' The whim we have of Happiness is somewhat thus. By 
certain valuations, and averages, of our own striking, 
we come upon some sort of average terrestrial lot ; this 
we fancy belongs to us by nature, and of indefeasible 
right. It is simple payment of our wages, of our deserts ; 
requires neither thanks nor complaint ; only such overplus 
as there may be do we account Happiness ; any deficit 



THOMAS CARLYLE 447 

again is Misery. Now consider that we have the valua- 
tion of our own deserts ourselves, and what a fund of 
Self-conceit there is in each of us, — do you wonder that 
the balance should so often dip the wrong way, and many 
a Blockhead cry : See there, what a payment ; was ever 
worthy gentleman so used ! — I tell thee, Blockhead, it all 
comes of thy Vanity ; of what thou fanciest those same 
deserts of thine to be. Fancy that thou deservest to be 
hanged (as is most likely), thou wilt feel it happiness to 
be only shot : fancy that thou deservest to be hanged in 
a hair-halter, it will be a luxury to die in hemp.' 

4 So true is it, what I then said, that the Fraction of 
Life can he increased in value not so much by increasing 
your Numerator as by lessening your Denominator. Nay, 
unless my Algebra deceive me, Unity itself divided by 
Zero will give Infinity. Make thy claim of wages a zero, 
then ; thou hast the world under thy feet. Well did the 
Wisest of our time write : " It is only with Renunciation 
(Entsagen) that Life, properly speaking, can be said to 
begin." ' 

4 1 asked myself : What is this that, ever since earliest 
years, thou hast been fretting and fuming, and lamenting 
and self -tormenting, on account of ? Say it in a word : is 
it not because thou art not happy? Because the Thou 
(sweet gentleman) is not sufficiently honoured, nourished, 
soft-bedded, and lovingly cared-for? Foolish soul! What 
Act of Legislature was there that thou shouldst be Happy ? 
A little while ago thou hadst no right to be at all. What 
if thou wert born and predestined not to be Happy, but to 
be Unhappy ! Art thou nothing other than a Vulture, 
then, that fliest through the Universe seeking after some- 
what to eat ; and shrieking dolefully because carrion enough 
is not given thee ? Close thy Byron ; open thy Goethe? 

' Es leuchtet mir ein, I see a glimpse of it ! ' cries he 



448 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

[Professor Teufelsdrockh] elsewhere : ' there is in man a 
Higher than Love of Happiness : he can do without 
Happiness, and instead thereof find Blessedness ! Was 
it not to preach-forth this same Higher that sages and 
martyrs, the Poet and the Priest, in all times, have spoken 
and suffered ; bearing testimony, through life and through 
death, of the Godlike that is in Man, and how in the 
Godlike only has he Strength and Freedom ? Which God- 
inspired Doctrine art thou also honoured to be taught; 
O Heavens ! and broken with manifold merciful Afflictions, 
even till thou become contrite, and learn it ! O, thank 
thy Destiny for these ; thankfully bear what yet remain : 
thou hadst need of them ; the Self in thee needed to be 
annihilated. By benignant fever-paroxysms is Life root- 
ing out the deep-seated chronic Disease, and triumphs 
over Death. On the roaring billows of Time, thou art 
not engulfed, but borne aloft into the azure of Eternity. 
Love not Pleasure ; love God. This is the Everlasting 
Yea, wherein all contradiction is solved : wherein whoso 
walks and works, it is well with him.' . . . 

' To me, in this our life,' says the Professor, « which is 
an internecine warfare with the Time-spirit, other warfare 
seems questionable. Hast thou in any way a Contention 
with thy brother, I advise thee, think well what the mean- 
ing thereof is. If thou gauge it to the bottom, it is simply 
this : " Fellow, see ! thou art taking more than thy share 
of Happiness in the world, something from my share : 
which, by the Heavens, thou shalt not ; nay, I will fight 
thee rather." — Alas, and the whole lot to be divided is 
such a beggarly matter, truly a " feast of shells," for the 
substance has been spilled out : not enough to quench one 
Appetite ; and the collective human species clutching at 
them ! — Can we not, in all such cases, rather say, " Take 
it, thou too-ravenous individual ; take that pitiful addi- 



THOMAS CARLYLE 449 

tional fraction of a share, which I reckoned mine, but 
which thou so wantest ; take it with a blessing : would to 
Heaven I had enough for thee ! " If Fichte's Wisseiv- 
schqftslehre be, " to a certain extent, Applied Christian- 
ity," surely to a still greater extent, so is this. We have 
not here a Whole Duty of Man, yet a Half Duty, namely 
the Passive half : could we but do it, as we can demon- 
strate it ! ' 

4 But indeed Conviction, were it never so excellent, is 
worthless till it convert itself into Conduct. Nay properly 
Conviction is not possible till then ; inasmuch as all Spec- 
ulation is by nature endless, formless, a vortex amid 
vortices : only by a felt indubitable certainty of Expe- 
rience does it find any centre to revolve round, and so 
fashion itself into a system. Most true is it, as a wise 
man teaches us, that " Doubt of any sort cannot be re- 
moved except by Action." On which ground, too, let him 
who gropes painfully in darkness or uncertain light, and 
prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay 
this other precept well to heart, which to me was of inval- 
uable service: "Do the Duty which lies nearest thee ," 
which thou knowest to be a Duty ! Thy second Duty 
will already have become clearer.' 

'May we not say, however, that the hour of Spiritual 
Enfranchisement is even this : When your Ideal World, 
wherein the whole man has been dimly struggling and 
inexpressibly languishing to work, becomes revealed, and 
thrown open ; and you discover, with amazement enough, 
like the Lothario in Wilhelm Meister, that your " Amer- 
ica is here or nowhere " ? The Situation that has not its 
Duty, its Ideal, was never yet occupied by man. Yes 
here, in this poor, miserable, hampered, despicable Actual, 
wherein thou even now standest, here or nowhere is thy 
Ideal : work it out therefrom ; and working, believe, live, 



450 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

be free. Fool ! the Ideal is in thyself, the impediment too 
is in thyself: thy Condition is but the stuff thou art to 
shape that same Ideal out of: what matters whether such 
stuff be of this sort or that, so the Form thou give it be 
heroic, be poetic? O thou that pinest in the imprison- 
ment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a 
kingdom wherein to rule and create, know this of a truth : 
the thing thou seekest is already with thee, " here or 
nowhere," couldst thou only see ! ' 

4 But it is with man's Soul as it was with Nature : the 
beginning of Creation is — Light. Till the eye have 
vision, the whole members are in bonds. Divine moment, 
when over the tempest-tost Soul, as once over the wild- 
weltering Chaos, it is spoken : Let there be Light ! Ever 
to the greatest that has felt such moment, is it not 
miraculous and God-announcing ; even as, under simpler 
figures, to the simplest and least ? The mad primeval 
Discord is hushed; the rudely-jumbled conflicting ele- 
ments bind themselves into separate Firmaments : deep 
silent rock-foundations are built beneath ; and the skyey 
vault with its everlasting Luminaries above : instead of a 
dark wasteful Chaos, we have a blooming, fertile, heaven- 
encompassed World.' 

4 1 too could now say to myself : Be no longer a Chaos, 
but a World, or even Worldkin. Produce ! Produce ! 
Were it but the pitifulest infinitesimal fraction of a 
Product, produce it, in God's name ! 'T is the utmost 
thou hast in thee : out with it, then. Up, up ! Whatsoever 
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy whole might. Work 
while it is called To-day ; for the Night cometh, wherein 
no man can work.' 



LACORDAIRE 

(A. D. 1802-1861.) 

Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, born near Dijon, 
France, May 12, 1802, was first a student of law, but turned 
from law to theology in 1824. He was ordained a priest 
in 1827, and became after some time a famous preacher at 
Notre Dame de Paris. His published conferences or sermons 
and funeral orations are greatly admired specimens of pulpit 
eloquence. He joined the Dominican Order of monks in 
1840, and was elected to the French Academy in 1860, — 
a year before his death, which occurred on the 22d of No- 
vember, 1861. 

"This man — brilliant, ready, supple, adroit, meteor-like, 
diamond-like — -has supplied his countrymen with a career 
on which they may exhaust their vocabulary of antithesis. 
He combined two types — the rigid medievalist and the 
modern demagogue. He was an orator and an ascetic. He 
was a haughty priest and a champion of the democracy. He 
was a confessor of nuns and a writer in Liberal journals. 
He was a brilliant, polished, cultivated Parisian in a shaven 
head and a white habit. He practised the austerities of the 
monastic life ; but ' Brother Henri Domenic Lacordaire, of 
the Friars' Preachers,' was the friend of Montalembert and 
the correspondent of Guizot. He instinctively recognized 
these contrasted aspects of his character. ' I hope to live 
and die, ' he said, i a penitent Catholic and an impenitent 
Liberal.'" — J. Skelton, "Essays in History and Biography." 



452 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES. 

(From " The Moral Life," by Pere Lacordaire ; translated by H. D. 
Langdon.) 

The ancients decided, and we have not altered their 
decision, that there exist four fundamental virtues to 
which all the others return as to their natural trunk. 
We call them cardinal virtues, and we still range them, 
from respect for logic as much as consideration for anti>- 
quity, in the same order in which they placed them. The 
first is prudence. It is at the beginning of all the others, 
because it embraces human things in their most general 
point of view. . . . 

Justice comes after prudence to forbid whatever is 
unjust, that is to say, whatever is against the right of a 
man. . . . 

Temperance is the third cardinal virtue. It is modera- 
tion in desires and wants, especially in what concerns the 
life of the senses ; food, sleep, movement, repose, outer 
pleasures. By temperance, man limits himself to what is 
good for him ; he makes of his body a being obedient to 
the truth of his nature, obedient also to the law of jus- 
tice. . . . 

Thus the prudence of the magistrate, the justice of 
the honest man, the temperance of the sage, these are 
the first virtues, and as it were the first lines which con- 
stitute moral rectitude. This done, much is done : never- 
theless this is not yet enough ; moral rectitude exists, 
moral greatness is absent, the man is worthy of esteem, 
but not of admiration. . . . Virtue being the highest 
thing in man, there should be in it, besides prudence, 
justice, and temperance, which do not suffice to his great- 
ness, another virtue, a supreme virtue which gives to him 
the majesty of what is august, the splendor of charac- 
ter. . . . 



LACORDAIRE 453 

"We must have that last virtue which crowns the others 
by raising them to the dignity of martyrdom, the virtue 
which Home called force — fortitude, and the Greeks 
by the very name of Rome ; for Rome in the Greek lan- 
guage, signifies strength; a prophetic name given by 
Providence to that city which it had destined to govern 
the world by the empire of right and the empire of char- 
acter. 

LACORDAIRE TO YOUNG MEN. 
(" Letters to Young Men," translated by Rev. James Trenor.) 

Spend a fair share of every day upon the serious occu- 
pations of your state, and look upon this work as one 
of your first duties, and as the personal accomplishment of 
that sentence passed by God upon our first father. In 
the sweat of thy brow shcdt thou eat thy bread. 

As to the lawful pleasures of the mind, the heart, or 
the senses, indulge in them with gratitude and modera- 
tion, drawing up sometimes in order to punish yourself, 
without waiting to be forced to do so by necessity. 

Bear constantly in mind that we have two great vices 
to beat down and destroy, pride and sensuality ; and two 
great virtues to acquire, humility and penance. 

Raise from time to time your heart to God, and think 
upon the painful passion of our Lord, in order to neu- 
tralize by the contemplation of his mangled and bleeding 
body the involuntary impression produced upon you by 
the objects you are condemned to see. 

Choose some poor person, and relieve him regularly 
according to your means, and look upon him as Jesus 
Christ Himself visit him, talk to him, and if you have 
courage enough, kiss his clothes or his feet sometimes. 

Fasten yourself in spirit to His cross, hand yourself 



454 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

over to the executioner: to dwell upon the thought of 
chastisement, and undergo it mentally, is a suffering in 
itself. The martyrs had immolated themselves a hundred 
times in their hearts before they were sacrificed in reality. 

Think too of the number of slaves and poor who get 
scarcely anything but a little bad bread moistened with 
their tears and even with their blood. 

Endeavor to be good, amiable, simple in your dealings 
with every one, and do not consider the life of a Christian 
as necessarily one of moroseness and melancholy. Saint 
Paul is continually saying to the faithful, rejoice I The 
real Christian is filled with interior joy even in the midst 
of sufferings : he bears his cross good-humoredly ; mar- 
tyrdom and opprobrium don't affect his spirits ; he offers 
his body to be afflicted as Providence sees fit without 
losing his serenity; he turns into roses chains, hunger, 
thirst, rags, fire, scourges, the sword, death. He loves 
and is loved, what more does he need? 



EMERSON 

(A. D. 1803-1882.) 

Ralph Waldo Emerson" was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
on the 25th of May, 1803. After graduating from Harvard 
College in 1821, he taught school for five years, and then 
entered the ministry, to which he had seemed to be dedicated 
by a long line of reverend ancestors on one or the other side. 
In 1829 he became the colleague of the Rev. Henry Ware, 
in pastoral charge of the Second Unitarian Church, at Bos- 
ton. Three years later, after preaching a sermon in which 
he made known a change of views with regard to the Lord's 
Supper, he resigned his charge and withdrew from the pulpit. 
His first visit to England was made that year, and his ac- 
quaintance and life-long correspondence with Carlyle began. 
After returning to America, he took up the calling of a pub- 
lic lecturer, and most of the now classic essays which he gave 
to the world during the remainder of his life were first pre- 
pared for reading on the lyceum platform. The first collec- 
tion of his "Essays" was published in 1841, the second in 
1844, and a volume of his poems in 1846. 

The influence of Emerson on thoughtful minds soon made 
itself felt, in England as well as in his own country, and 
when he went abroad a second time, in 1847, he found many 
admirers awaiting him. In 1850 he published the course of 
lectures entitled "Representative Men." His "English 
Traits" was published in 1856; "The Conduct of Life" in 
1860; "Society and Solitude" in 1869, and "May-Day and 
other Poems " the same year. These were his principal 
writings. 

Mr. Emerson's residence in Concord began in 1835, and 
he lived there until his death, which occurred on the 27th of 
April, 1882. 

"We have not in Emerson a great poet, a great writer, a 
great philosophy-maker. His relation to "us is not that of 



456 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLOES 

one of those personages ; yet it is a relation of, I think, even 
superior importance. His relation to us is more like that 
of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius 
is not a great writer, a great philosophy-maker, he is the 
friend and aider of those who would live in the spirit. 
Emerson is the same. He is the friend and aider of those 
who would live in the spirit. All the points in thinking 
which are necessary for this purpose he takes; but he does 
not combine them into a system, or present- them as a regular 
philosophy. Combined in a system by a man with the requi- 
site talent for this kind of thing, they would be less useful 
than as Emerson gives them to us. . . . As Wordsworth's 
poetry is, in my judgment, the most important work done 
in verse, in our language, during the present century, so 
Emerson's 'Essays' are, I think, the most important work 
done in prose." — Matthew Arnold, "Discourses in Amer- 



PASSAGES FROM "THE CONDUCT OF LIFE." 

If now in this connection of discourse, we should ven- 
ture on laying down the first obvious rules of life, I will 
not here repeat the first rule of economy, already pro- 
pounded once and again, that every man shall maintain 
himself, — but I will say, get health. No labor, pains, 
temperance, poverty, nor exercise, that can gain it, must 
be grudged. For sickness is a cannibal which eats up all 
the life and youth it can lay hold of, and absorbs its own 
sons and daughters. I figure it as a pale, wailing, dis- 
tracted phantom, absolutely selfish, heedless of what is 
good and great, attentive to its sensations, losing its soul, 
and afflicting other souls with meanness and mopings, and 
with ministration to its voracity of trifles. Dr. Johnson 
said severely, " Every man is a rascal as soon as he is 
sick." Drop the cant, and treat it sanely. In dealing 
with the drunken, we do not affect to be drunk. We 
must treat the sick with the same firmness, giving them, 
of course, every aid — but withholding ourselves. . . . 



EMERSON 457 

'Tis a Dutch proverb, that "paint costs nothing," such 
are its preserving qualities in damp climates. Well, sun- 
shine costs less, yet is finer pigment. And so of cheerful- 
ness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more of 
it remains. The latent heat of an ounce of wood or stone 
is inexhaustible. You may rub the same chip of pine to 
the point of kindling, a hundred times ; and the power of 
happiness of any soul is not to be computed or drained. 
It is observed that a depression of spirits develops the 
germs of a plague in individuals and nations. . . . 

Genial manners are good, and power of accommodation 
to any circumstance, but the high prize of life, the crown- 
ing fortune of a man is to be born with a bias to some 
pursuit, which finds him in employment and happiness, — 
whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, 
or statutes, or songs. I doubt not this was the meaning 
of Socrates, when he pronounced artists the only truly 
wise, as being actually, not apparently so. . . . 

The uses of travel are occasional, and short ; but the 
best fruit it finds, when it finds it, is conversation ; and 
this is a main function of life. What a difference in the 
hospitality of minds ! Inestimable is he to whom we can 
say what we cannot say to ourselves. Others are invol- 
untarily hurtful to us, and bereave us of the power of 
thought, impound and imprison us. As, when there is 
sympathy, there needs but one wise man in a company, 
and all are wise, — so a blockhead makes a blockhead of 
his companion. Wonderful power to benumb possesses 
this brother. When he comes into the office or public 
room, the society dissolves ; one after another slips out, 
and the apartment is at his disposal. What is incurable 
but a frivolous habit ? 

Ask what is best in our experience, and we shall say, a 
few pieces of plain-dealing with wise people. Our con- 



458 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

versation once and again has apprised ns that we belong 
to better circles than we have yet beheld ; that a mental 
power invites us, whose generalizations are more worth for 
joy and for effect than anything that is now called philo- 
sophy or literature. In excited conversation, we have 
glimpses of the Universe, hints of power native to the 
soul, far-darting lights and shadows of an Andes land- 
scape, such as we can hardly attain in lone meditation. 
Here are Oracles sometimes profusely given, to which the 
memory goes back in barren hours. 

Add the consent of will and temperament, and there 
exists the covenant of friendship. Our chief want in life, 
is, somebody who shall make us do what we can. This is 
the service of a friend. With him we are easily great. 
There is a sublime attraction in him to whatever virtue is 
in us. How he flings wide the doors of existence ! . . . 
And yet we do not provide for the greatest good of life. 
We take care of our health ; we lay up money ; we make 
our roof tight, and our clothing sufficient ; but who pro- 
vides wisely that he shall not be wanting in the best pro- 
perty of all, — friends ? We know that all our training 
is to fit us for this, and we do not take the step towards 
it. How long shall we sit and wait for these benefac- 
tors ? 

It makes no difference, in looking back five years, how 
you have been dieted or dressed ; whether you have been 
lodged on the first floor or the attic ; whether you have 
had gardens and baths, good cattle and horses, have been 
carried in a neat equipage, or in a ridiculous truck : these 
things are forgotten so quickly, and leave no effect. But 
it counts much whether we have had good companions, in 
that time — almost as much as what we have been doing. 
. . . But we live with people on other platforms ; we live 
with dependents, not only with the young whom we are to 



EMERSON 459 

teach" all we know, and clothe with the advantages we 
have earned, but also with those who serve us directly, 
and for money. Yet the old rules hold good. Let not 
the tie be mercenary, though the sertice is measured by 
money. Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not 
make life hard to any. 

. . . But why multiply these topics, and their illustra- 
tions, which are endless ? Life brings to each his task, 
and, whatever art you select, algebra, planting, architec- 
ture, poems, commerce, politics, — all are attainable,, even 
to the miraculous triumphs, on the same terms, of select- 
ing that for which you are apt ; begin at the beginning, 
proceed in order, step by step. 'Tis as easy to twist iron 
anchors and braid cannons, as to braid straw, to boil 
granite as to boil water, if you take all the steps in order. 
Wherever there is failure, there is some giddiness, some 
superstition about luck, some step omitted, which Nature 
never pardons. The happy conditions of life may be had 
on the same terms. Their attraction for you is the pledge 
that they are within your reach. Our prayers are pro- 
phets. There must be fidelity, and there must be ad- 
herence. How respectable the life that clings to its ob- 
jects ! Youthful aspirations are fine things, your theories 
and plans of life are fair and commendable : — but will you 
stick ? Not one, I fear, in that Common full of people, 
or, in a thousand, but one : and when you tax them with 
treachery, and remind them of their high resolutions, they 
have forgotten that they made a vow. The individuals 
are fugitive, and in the act of becoming something else, 
and irresponsible. The race is great, the ideal fair, but 
the men whiffling and unsure. The hero is he who is im- 
movably centred. The main difference between people 
seems to be, that one man can come under obligations on 
which you can rely, — is obligable ; and another is not- 



460 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

As he has not a law within him, there 's nothing to tie 
him to. 

'T is inevitable to name particulars of virtue, and of 
condition, and to exaggerate them. But all rests at last 
on that integrity which dwarfs talent, and can spare it. 



THOREAU 

(A. D. 1817-1862.) 

Henry David Thoreau, the neighbor and friend of Ralph 
Waldo Emerson, was born in the famous town of Concord, 
Massachusetts, in 1817. At twenty years of age he gradu- 
ated from Harvard College, and was a teacher at Concord 
and on Staten Island for five or six years. In later life, he 
engaged to some extent in land-surveying, and also employed 
himself in the making of lead-pencils, of which his father 
had been a manufacturer ; but he reduced " business " to the 
smallest share possible in his life, minimizing his wants, 
making them simple, and devoting the most of his time to 
nature-study, meditation, and writing. From July, 1845, 
until September, 1847, he made his dwelling in a cabin that 
he had constructed on Walden Pond, near Concord, of which 
experiment in simple and undistracted living he gave a charm- 
ing account in his book entitled "Walden." From one of 
the chapters of that book the passages quoted below are 
taken. 

The moral quality of Thoreau 's character is described by 
his friend and biographer, William Ellery Channing, in the 
words following: "The high moral impulse never deserted 
him, and he resolved early to ' read no book, take no walk, 
undertake no enterprise, but such as he could endure to give 
an account of to himself; and live thus deliberately for the 
most part.' In our estimate of his character, the moral 
qualities form the basis : for himself, rigidly enjoined ; if in 
another, he could overlook delinquency. Truth before all 
things ; in your daily life, integrity before all things ; in all 
your thoughts, your faintest breath, the austerest purity, 
the utmost fulfilling of the interior law; faith in friends, 
and an iron and flinty pursuit of right, which nothing can 
tease or purchase out of us." 

The death of Thoreau occurred in 1862. 



462 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 



ON THE MAKING OF LIFE DELIBERATE AND 
SIMPLE. 

(From " Walden," by Henry D. Thoreau.) 

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unques- 
tionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious 
endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particu- 
lar picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few 
objects beautiful ; but it is far more glorious to carve and 
paint the very atmosphere and medium through which 
we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality 
of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is 
tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the 
contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. If 
we refused, or rather used up, such paltry information as 
we get, the oracles would distinctly inform us how this 
might be done. 

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliber- 
ately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I 
could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I 
came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not 
wish to live what was not life, living is so dear ; nor did 
I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite neces- 
sary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow 
of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to 
rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave 
close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest 
terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the 
whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its mean- 
ness to the world ; or if it were sublime, to know it by- 
experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my 
next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a 
strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or 



THOREAU 4G3 

of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is 
the chief end of man here to " glorify God and enjoy him 
forever." 

Still we live meanly, like ants ; though the fable tells 
us that we were long ago changed into men ; like pygmies 
we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout 
upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a su- 
perfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frit- 
tered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need 
to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he 
may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, 
simplicity, simplicity ! I say, let your affairs be as two 
or three, and not a hundred or a thousand ; instead of a 
million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on 
your thumb nail. In the midst of this chopping sea of 
civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quick- 
sands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that 
a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the 
bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, 
and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. 
Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be 
necessary eat but one ; instead of a hundred dishes, five ; 
and reduce other things in proportion. Our life is like a 
German Confederacy, made up of petty states, with its 
boundary forever fluctuating, so that even a German can- 
not tell you how it is bounded at any moment. The na- 
tion itself, with all its so called internal improvements, 
which by the way, are all external and superficial, is just 
such an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered 
with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by 
luxury and heedless expense, by want of calculation and a 
worthy aim, as the million households in the land ; and 
the only cure for it as for them is in a rigid economy, a 
stern and more than Spartan simplicity of life and eleva- 






464 A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELLORS 

tion of purpose. It lives too fast. Men think that it is 
essential that the Nation have commerce, and export ice, 
and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an 
hour, without a doubt, whether they do or not ; but 
whether we should live like baboons or like men, is a 
little uncertain. . . . 

Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life ? 
We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. 
Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take 
a thousand stitches to-day to save nine to-morrow. As 
for work, we have n't any of any consequence. We have 
the Saint Vitus' dance, and cannot possibly keep our 
heads still. . . . Hardly a man takes a half hour's nap 
after dinner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and 
asks, " What 's the news ? " as if the rest of mankind had 
stood his sentinels. . . . 

To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and 
they who edit and read it are old women over their tea. 
Yet not a few are greedy after this gossip. . . . 

If we respected only what is inevitable and has a right 
to be, music and poetry would resound along the streets. 
When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only 
great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute 
existence, — that petty fears and petty pleasures are but 
the shadow of the reality. This is always exhilarating 
and sublime. By closing the eyes and slumbering, and 
consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and 
confirm their daily life of routine and habit every where, 
which still is built on purely illusory foundations. Chil- 
dren, who play life, discern its true law and relations 
more clearly than men, who fail to live it worthily, but 
who think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by 
failure. . . . 

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at 



THOREAU 465 

it ; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect 
how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eter- 
nity remains. I would drink deeper ; fish in the sky, 
whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. 
I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always 
been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was 
born. The intellect is a cleaver ; it discerns and rifts its 
way into the secret of things. I do not wish to be any 
more busy with my hands than is necessary. My head is 
hands and feet. I feel all my best faculties concentrated in 
it. My instinct tells me that my head is an organ for bur- 
rowing, as some creatures use their snout and fore-paws, 
and with it I would mine and burrow my way through 
these hills. I think that the richest vein is somewhere 
hereabouts ; so by the divining rod and thin rising vapors 
I judge ; and here I will begin to mine. 






INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND SOURCES 



Acara, the, 65. 

Accomplishments : Knowledge may give 
weight, accomplishments only lustre ; 
but more people see than weigh (Ches- 
terfield), 361. 

Achievement. See Doing. 

Addison, Joseph. On methods for filling 
up empty spaces of life, 352. 

Admonition. See Reproof. 

Adornment, personal. See Dress. 

Adultery. See Chastity. 

Adversity. See Prosperity, Lot in life, 
Fortune, Disappointment. 

Advice. See Counsel. 

Affectation : Do not, out of fear of affecta- 
tion, fall into it (Gracian), 286. 

Afflictions : Resolved, after afflictions, to 
inquire what I am the better for them 
(Edwards), 374 ; those who have suffered 
much are like those who know many 
languages (Swetchine), 437. See, also, 
Sorrow, Prosperity. 

Age. See Youth. 

Agitation. See Calmness. 

Ahikar, the story of, 103. 

Almsgiving. See Giving. 

Altruistic sentiment. See Benevolence, 
Considerateness, Giving, Kindness, 
Mercy, Love, Filial duty, Elders, Neigh- 
bors. 

Ambition. See Honors, worldly. 

Amiability. See Geniality. 

Amusement. See Pleasure. 

Anger. — "Wrath. — Resentment. — Irrita- 
bility. — Ill-temper. — Ill-humor : If 
thou findest a disputant while he is hot 
... do not get into a passion with him. 
... Be not of an irritable temper (Ptah- 
hotep), 33, 36; A soft answer turneth 
away wrath (Proverbs), 54; He that is 
slow to anger is of great understanding 
(Proverbs) 54; Anger resteth in the 



bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes), 60 ; With 
an angry man be never angry. . . . 
Abstinence from anger included in the 
tenfold summary of duty (Manu), 70; 
Our anger to command (Periander), 76 ; 
He who holds back rising anger like a. 
rolling chariot, I call a real driver .... 
Overcome anger by love. ... Do not 
yield to anger (Dhammapada), 84 ; An- 
ger is foreign from Divinity (Pythagoras), 
00 ; Vanquish an angry man by gentle- 
ness. . . . Never meet an angry man 
with anger (Maha-bharata), 95, 96 ; Study 
to remove resentments and angry feel- 
ings. . . . The superior man, when angry, 
thinks of the difficulties his anger may 
involve (Confucius), 101, 102 ; To be 
angry at the right time, &c, not easy 
(Aristotle), 110, 111; Envy and wrath 
shorten the life (Ecclesiasticus), 124 ; 
One who is angry with his brother shall 
be in danger of the judgment (Jesus), 
131 ; Not he who gives ill-language or a 
blow affronts, but the principle which 
represents these things as affronting 
(Epictetus), 152 ; A man when he prac- 
tices wrath becomes forgetful of his 
duties (Spirit of Wisdom), 164; Many 
man for anger beateth himself with his 
own staff (La Tour), 191 ; Beware of wrath 
(Wyclif), 197 ; When wrath takes posses- 
sion wisdom takes to flight (Thomas a 
Kempis), 203 ; Be slack and slow to ire 
(Rhodes), 207 ; Whoever will call to mind 
the excess of his past anger will see the 
deformity of the passion (Montaigne), 
249 ; Anger is one of the sinews of the 
soul. ... To be angry for every toy de- 
bases the worth of thy anger (Fuller), 
306, 307 ; There is a dignity in good sense 
that is offended by anger (Halifax), 315 ; 
Every stroke our fury strikes is sure to 



468 



INDEX 



hit ourselves. . . . Return no answer to 
anger, unless with meekness .... Be 
apter to remit than resent (Penn), 331, 
334 ; Quieting the angry is an employ- 
ment suited to a reasonable nature (Ad- 
dison), 353 ; Consider how few things are 
worthy of anger (Chesterfield), 364 ; Re- 
solved never to suffer the least anger 
towards irrational beings (Edwards), 307 ; 
Forbear resenting injuries so much as you 
think they deserve (Franklin), 378 ; Be- 
ware of anger, that demon, that destroyer 
of our peace (Chatham), 392 ; When angry 
count ten before you speak (Jefferson), 
411. See, also, Good nature. 

Animals, treatment of : A righteous man re- 
gardeth the life of his beast (Proverbs), 
53 ; Take no pleasure in the death of a 
creature (Quarles), 291. 

Annoyances: Escape from and forget (Ptah- 
hotep), 38 ; Trifles we should let not 
plague us only, but also gratify us 
(Richter), 426. 

Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius. Selections 
from the " Thoughts," 157. 

Anxiety : He that observeth the wind shall 
not sow. . . . Carefulness bringeth age 
(Ecclesiasticus), 62, 124 ; Be not anxious 
for your life. ... Be not anxious for 
the morrow. . . . Sufficient unto the day 
is the evil thereof (Jesus), 134, 135 ; Let 
not future things disturb thee, etc. 
(Marcus Aurelius), 160 ; He that is 
anxious . . . decay results to his body 
and soul (Spirit of Wisdom), 164; I 
let reason do that for me which, after 
a little, time would do (Erasmus), 214 ; 
Whoever will remember the hazards he 
has run will prepare himself for future 
changes (Montaigne), 249 ; Let thy care 
be reasonable, and seasonable. . . . Put 
off thy care with thy clothes (Quarles), 
289 ; Leave future occurrences to their 
uncertainties (Browne), 304 ; Better to 
employ our minds in supporting misfor- 
tunes which actually happen, &c. (La 
Rochefoucauld), 311 ; We should not be 
troubled for what we cannot help (Penn), 
329 ; For to-day think only of to-day 
(Fe"nelon), 344 ; How much pain have 
cost us the evils that never happened 
(Jefferson), 411 ; Despise anxiety and 
wishing (Richter), 426 ; Preserve a proper 
proportion between thought for the pre- 
sent and thought for the future (Scho- 



penhauer), 443. See, also, Trust, Pru- 
dence. 

Apparel. See Dress. 

Aristotle : Moral philosophy, 13 ; Injunc- 
tions for the keeping of "the mean," 
108. 

Art. See Taste. 

Ascham, Roger. Advice to his brother-in- 
law, 219. 

Asking : Know how to ask (Gracian), 287. 

Attire. See Dress. 

Authority, respect for (Ptah-hotep), 34. 

Avarice. — Hoarding. — Miserliness. — 
Greed : Let us dwell free from greed 
(Dhammapada), 83 ; Be watchful lest thy 
mind ... be to sordid avarice inclined 
(Pythagoras), 89 ; Whatever I possess, I 
will neither hoard nor squander (Seneca), 
141 ; Shun avarice (Mexican precept), 
227 ; Clearness of judgment makes men 
liberal, for it teacheth, &c. (Essex- 
Bacon), 273, 275 ; H avarice be thy vice, 
make it not thy punishment (Browne), 
301 ; Avarice is more opposed to economy 
than liberality is (La Rochefoucauld), 
311 ; Avarice, the snare of old age (Penn), 
332 ; Avarice is the parent of evil deeds 
(Chesterfield), 363. See, also, Expendi- 
ture, Giving. 

" Babees Book," the, 205. 

Backbiting. See Slander. 

Bacon, Francis. Precepts of the doctrine 
of advancement in life, 265; Essex's 
letter of advice to the Earl of Rutland, 
269. 

Bad humor. See Anger. 

Beatitudes, Buddhist, 79. 

Benevolence. — Helpfulness. — Pity. — 
Kindness: Withhold not good (Proverbs), 
49 ; High-minded men delight in doing 
good, without a thought of their own 
interest. . . . Enjoy the prosperity of 
others (Maha-bharata), 96, 79 ; Add not 
more trouble to a heart that is vexed 
(Ecclesiasticus), 115; Reject not the sup- 
plication of the afflicted. . . . Deliver 
him that suffereth wrong. ... Be a fa- 
ther unto the fatherless. ... Be not slow 
to visit the sick. . . . Mourn with them 
that mourn. ... Is not a word better 
than a gift ? (Ecclesiasticus), 115, 118, 
120 ; I will so live as to remember that I 
was born for others (Seneca), 141 ; Be not 
ashamed to be helped (Marcus Aurelius), 
160 ; The expenditure of charity and 



INDEX 



4G9 



benevolence is profit (Maimonides), 1C9 ; 
Concern for the welfare of mankind a 
primary principle of wisdom (Welsh 
Triad), 171 ; Be gentle and compassion- 
ate towards the poor, the unfortunate, 
&c. (St. Louis), 174 ; Live a rightful life, 
doing the works of mercy (Wyclif), 190 ; 
Be useful to all, for such is piety (Thomas 
a Kempis), 203 ; Think unkindness to be 
the greatest offence, and least punished 
amongst men (Wyatt), 233; Do not be- 
long wholly to yourself nor wholly to 
others. . . . Know how to do good to 
people a little at a time and often (Gra- 
cian), 287 ; Mistaken kindness is little 
less dangerous than malice (Halifax), 
314 ; We have a call to do good as often 
as we have the power and the occasion 
(Penn), 329 ; To relieve the needy and 
comfort the afflicted are almost daily 
duties (Addison), 353 ; He who pitieth 
another recommendeth himself (Chester- 
field), 364 ; Resolved to do whatever I 
think to be most for the good of mankind. 
. . . Let there be something of benev- 
olence in all that I speak (Edwards), 3G6, 
374 ; Benevolence is the queen of virtues 
(Chatham), 391 ; Reproach none for the 
infirmities of nature (Washington), 402 ; 
Take two wallets in thy hand : this to 
gather what you find, that to give with 
willing mind (Goethe), 417 ; A man may 
tak a neibor's part, yet hae na cash to 
spare him (Burns), 421 ; Make yourself 
necessary to somebody. Do not make 
life hard to any (Emerson), 459. See, 
also, Giving, Neighbors. 

Best, the. See Good. 

Bias, saying of, 76. 

Blame. See Censure, Justice. 

Boasting. See Vanity. 

Bodily care. — Health. — Exercise : For 
health and welfare prudently provide 
(Pythagoras), 88; Health above all gold 
(Ecclesiasticus), 123 ; It is a mark of 
want of genius to spend much time in 
things relating to the body (Epictetus), 
153; The perfection of the body pre- 
cedes the perfection of the soul (Mai- 
monides), 165 ; Use exercise of body, yet 
such as is without peril. . . . Delight to 
be cleanly (Sidney), 246 ; To take the 
best advantage of thyself, keep temper- 
ate diet, &c. (Quarles), 290 ; Refresh that 
part of thyself which is most wearied 
(Fuller), 30S ; Be plain in clothes, furni- 



ture, and food, but clean (Penn), 331 ; 
Have courage to wear thick boots in 
winter (Stanislaus), 358 ; Tolerate no 
uncleanlinesfl (Franklin), 378 ; Unlimited 
activity must end in bankruptcy (Goethe), 
414; No labor, pains, temperance, pov- 
erty, nor exercise that can gam health 
must be grudged (Emerson), 456. See, 
also, Temperance, Pleasure. 

" Boke of Nurture," Hugh Rhodes's, 205. 

Books : Of making many books there is no 
end (Ecclesiastes), 63 ; Mark the sense 
and the matter of that you read (Sidney), 
246 ; All men that live are drawn either 
by book or example (Essex-Bacon), 276 ; 
Read not books alone, but men, chiefly 
thyself (Quarles), 289 ; A few books well 
studied, &c. (Osborne), 294 ; Great read- 
ing, without applying, is like corn heaped, 
that is not stirred (Halifax), 315 ; In pe- 
rusing any good book, rather meditate 
than read much. . . . Have few books, 
well chosen and well read (Penn), 330, 
332, 333 ; Apply all you read to yourself 
(Fenelon), 343 ; Of all the diversions of 
life, there are none so proper, &c. (Addi- 
son), 355 ; If you do not set apart your 
hours of reading, your days will slip un- 
profitably (Chatham), 387 ; Look upon a 
library as a learned conversation (Rich- 
ter), 427. See, also, Education. 

Boorishness. See Courtesy. 

Borrowing. — Lending : He that borroweth 
till no man will lend him, let him go 
where no man knoweth him (Rhodes), 
208, 209 ; Neither borrow of a neighbor or 
a friend. ... In borrowing be precious 
of thy word (Bm-leigh), 242 ; Borrowing 
is the canker and death of a man's estate 
(Raleigh), 256 ; Neither a borrower nor a 
lender be (Shakespeare), 281 ; Lend not 
beyond thy ability, nor refuse, &c.(Penn), 
326 ; Have courage to avoid accommoda- 
tion bills (Stanislaus), 357. See, also, 
Debt, Expenditure, Honesty. 

Bountifulness. See Giving. 

Browne, Sir Thomas. Selections from a 
letter to a friend, and from " Christian 
Morals," 299, 303. 

Buddhism, 77 ; Eight precepts and ten 
commandments of, 78. Beatitudes of, 79. 

Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord. Ten pre- 
cepts, 238. 

Burns, Robert. Epistle to a Young Friend, 
420. 

Business. See Occupation. 



470 



INDEX 



Calling. See Occupation. 

Calmness. See Self-control, Equanimity. 

Candor. See Sincerity. 

Carefulness. See Prudence. 

Carlyle, Thomas. On Happiness, 29, 30, 
44G. 

Caution. See Prudence. 

Censure. — Blame. — Criticism : Blame 
not before thou hast examined (Eccle- 
siasticus), 120 ; Judge not that ye be not 
judged (Jesus), 135 ; If a person speaks 
ill of you do not make excuses but answer, 
"He doth not know my other faults" 
.... If you act rightly, why fear those 
who censure you wrongly (Epictetus),152, 
153 ; Look carefully into your own faults 
and you will find little leisure to weigh 
others (Thomas a Kempis), 203; Take 
the evil judgments of evil persons as true 
praise (Rhodes), 206 ; I find no fault with 
what any man purposes to do or does 
(Erasmus), 212 ; Find fault with yourself 
and with none other (Ascham), 219 ; Take 
each man's censure, but reserve thy 
judgment (Shakespeare), 281 ; Accustom 
yourself to the faults of those with whom 
you live as you do to ugly faces (Gra- 
cian), 286 ; Think thyself poor and naked 
without that crowning grace which think- 
eth no evil, &c. . . . When thou lookest 
upon the imperfections of others, allow 
one eye for what is laudable (Browne), 
302, 304 ; Avoid being first in fixing a 
hard censure (Halifax), 319 ; They that 
censure should practice (Penn), 329 ; Let 
recollection of your own faults hinder 
you from fastidiousness and censorious- 
ness (Fenelon), 343 ; I will let knowledge 
of the failings of others promote nothing 
but shame in myself (Edwards), 367 ; I 
see no fault committed which I could not 
have commuted myself (Goethe), 415. 
See, also, Justice. 

Ceremony : Superfluous compliments and 
affectations of ceremony to be avoided, 
yet where due not to be neglected (Wash 
ington), 402, 403. 

Character : Character consists in a man 
steadily pursuing the things of which he 
thinks himself capable (Goethe), 416. 

Charity (of the purse) : See Giving, Benev- 
olence. 

Charity (of the spirit) : Ever keep charity 
(Wyclif), 198. See, also, Censure, Jus- 
tice, Magnanimity, Pride. 

Chastity. — Purity. — Lust. — Licentious- 



ness. — Adultery : Keep from making ad- 
vances to a woman (Ptah-hotep), 36; 
Thou shalt not commit adultery (Deca- 
logue), 42 ; Warnings against " the 
strange woman " (Proverbs), 50 ; In- 
cluded in the tenfold summary of duty 
(Manu), 70 ; One should refrain from un- 
lawful sexual intercourse (Buddha), 78 ; 
The superior man guards against lust 
(Confucius), 102 ; Keep thine eye from 
immodest glances (Ahikar), 104 ; Give 
not thyself to a light woman. . . . Meet 
not with a harlot. ... Go not after thy 
lusts (Ecclesiasticus), 118, 119, 121 ; Lust 
arises from a mistake about what is good 
(Cicero), 127 ; Blessed are the pure in 
heart. . . . One that looketh on a wo- 
man to lust after her hath committed 
adultery in his heart (Jesus), 17, 130, 131 ; 
Commit no lustfulness (Spirit of Wis- 
dom), 164 ; He that preserves purity in 
soul and body is like God's angels(Thomas 
a Kempis), 203 ; Put a bridle and a mea- 
sure to thy concupiscence (Rhodes), 206 ; 
Eschew adultery. ... It is a base vice 
(Mexican precept), 222, 225; Cast not 
your eyes on the beauty of women (Lyly). 
260 ; Gaze not on beauty too much, &c 
(Quarles), 291; Rarely use venery (Frank 
lin), 378; Never tempt th' illicit rove 
... It hardens a' within (Burns), 422 
We have two great vices to beat down 
pride and sensuality (Lacordaire), 453, 
See, also, Modesty, Ribaldry, Marriage. 

Chatham, Lord. Letters to his nephew, 
387. 

Cheating. See Honesty. 

Cheerfulness : Of countenance (Ptah- 
hotep), 39; He that is of a cheerful heart 
hath a continual feast (Proverbs), 54; 
Nothing contributes so little to cheerful- 
ness as riches, or. so much as health 
(Schopenhauer), 441 ; The more of cheer- 
fulness is spent, the more of it remains 
(Emerson), 457. See, also, Good nature. 

Chesterfield, Earl of. Maxims from " Let- 
ters to his Son," and precepts from " The 
Economy of Human Life," 360, 362. 

Children, training of. See Parental duty. 

Chilo, saying of, 76. 

Choice. See Discrimination. 

Christianity and Morals, 17-19. 

Cicero, on the good that makes life happy, 
127. 

Civility. See Courtesy. 

Cleanliness. See Bodily care. 



INDEX 



471 



Cleobolus, saying of, 76. 

Clothing. See Dress. 

Commandments : The ten Mosaic, 41 ; Fur- 
ther Mosaic, 44 ; The ten of Manu (ten- 
fold summary of duty), 70 ; The ten 
Buddhistic, 78, 79. See, also, Religious 
injunctions. 

Companions : Walk with wise men . . . 
the companion of fools shall smart 
(Proverbs), 53 ; There is no companion- 
ship with a fool (Dhammapada), 82 ; 
He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled 
(Ecclesiasticus), 120 ; Beware of associ- 
ating with the wanton. ... Be found 
among respectable and learned men 
(Maimonides), 1G6 ; Flee and avoid the 
society of the wicked (St. Louis), 175 ; 
Make the acquaintance of wise men 
(Mediaeval precept), 179 ; Flee the com- 
pany and counsel of proud men, &c. 
. . . Draw to you good and virtuous men 
(Suffolk), 201 ; Shun the society of liars, 
idlers, gossips (Mexican precept), 228 ; 
Affect their company whom you find to 
be worthiest (Essex- Bacon), 271 ; Do not 
dull thy palm with entertainment of each 
new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade (Shake- 
speare), 281 ; A desert is better than a 
debauched companion. ... It is excel- 
lent to have a library of scholars (Ful- 
ler), 305, 306 ; Be not easily acquainted 
. . . intimate with few. . . . Prefer the 
aged, the virtuous, and the knowing 
(Penn), 327, 331 ; Be specially on guard 
as to the women with whom you are in- 
timate (Fe"nelon), 343 ; Associate with 
men much older than yourself (Chatham), 
388 ; The company in which you will im- 
prove most will be the least expensive to 
you. ... It is easy to make acquaint- 

* ances, but difficult to shake them off 
(Washington), 398, 401, 403 ; Be very se- 
lect in the society you attach yourself to 
(Jefferson), 409 ; Learn to be to some ex- 
tent alone even though you are in com- 
pany (Schopenhauer), 443 ; It makes no 
difference in looking back five years how 
you have been dieted or dressed ; . . . 
but it counts much whether we have had 
good companions (Emerson), 458. See, 
also, Friendship. 

Complaining. — Fault - finding. — Grum- 
bling : Grumble not (Ptah-hotep), 36. 

Condescension : Towards thine inferiors 
show much humanity, and some famil- 
iarity (Burleigh), 243. 



Confidence. See Trust. 

Conformity : I would conform to the laws 
and customs of my country (Descartes), 
297. 

Confucius, maxims and analects of, 10, 99. 

Conscience : The gods see the sinful, and 
the omniscient spirit within their breasts. 
. . . The soul is its own witness. . . . 
Grieve thou not thy bouI. . . . The great 
Divinity who dwells within thy breast 
(Manu), 60, 67 ; Do nothing because of 
public opinion, but everything because 
of conscience (Seneca), 141 ; Never do 
that that within yourself you find a cer- 
tain grudging against (Wyatt), 235 ; 
There is nothing more troublesome than 
a guilty conscience (Erasmus), 214; 
Happy is he . . . whose conscience is 
his strong retreat (Wotton), 282 ; In the 
commission of evil fear no man so much 
as thyself. . . . The multitude looks but 
upon thy actions ; thy conscience looks 
into them (Quarles), 290, 292 ; That little 
spark of celestial fire called conscience 
(Washington), 404; A conscience but 
[without] a canker is sure a noble an- 
chor (Burns), 423. See, also, Soul. 

Considerateness for others : Wound not 
another, though provoked. . . . Utter no 
word to pain (Manu), 65. 

Consistency : To change opinion is as con- 
sistent with freedom as to persist in 
error (Marcus Aurelius), 161. 

Constancy. See Patience. 

Contention. — Dissension. — Strife. — Quar- 
relling. — Disputation : Be not angry 
with a disputant, nor discourteous (Ptah- 
hotep), 33, 34, 39 ; The Lord hateth him 
that soweth discord among brethren. 
... Go not forth hastily to strive. . . . 
Where there is no whisperer contention 
ceaseth (Proverbs), 51, 56, 57 ; He who 
has given up both victory and defeat is 
happy. . . . Victory breeds hatred (Dham- 
mapada), 83 ; Cultivate peace and con- 
cord (Confucius), 100 ; The superior man 
guards against quarrelsomeness (Confu- 
cius), 102; Abstain from strife (Ecclesias- 
ticus), 122 ; Blessed are the peacemakers. 
. . . Agree with thine adversary quickly. 
. . . Resist not him that is evil (Jesus), 
131, 132 ; with a malicious man carry on 
no conflict. . . . With a foolish man 
make no dispute (Spirit of Wisdom), 164 ; 
Quarrelsomeness and petulance waste the 
body, the soul, and the property (Mai- 



472 



INDEX 



monides), 168 ; God will not love him 
who loves to look at fighting (Welsh 
Triad), 171, 172 ; Do not quarrel with 
your neighbor, and avoid disputing with 
him (Mediaeval precept), 178 ; Who that 
seeketh riot gladly, he meeteth there- 
with (La Tour), 191 ; Stir all to love true 
peace and charity ; suffer no men to be 
at dissension (Wyclif), 195 ; Beware of 
entrance to a quarrel ; but being in, &c. 
(Shakespeare), 281 ; Quarrels would not 
last long if fault was on one side (La 
Rochefoucauld), 312 ; In all debates let 
truth be thy aim, not victory. ... It 
were endless to dispute upon everything 
disputable (Perm), 327, 328 ; Resolved to 
do always what I can towards making 
peace (Edwards), 3G9 ; Peace, the fruit 
of virtue, and . . . virtue, fruit of faith, 
prepare for happiness (Cowper), 394 ; In 
disputes be not so desirous to overcome 
as not to give liberty, &c. (Washing- 
ton), 404 ; I never saw an instance of one 
of two disputants convincing the other 
(Jefferson), 408. 
Contentment. — Resignation Contentment 
is the root of happiness. . . . Included 
in the tenfold summary of duty (Manu), 
67, 70 ; Contentment the greatest bless- 
ing (Buddha), 80 ; Happy the man, &c. 
(Martial-Pope), 145 ; Require not things 
to happen as you wish, but wish them to 
happen as they do. . . . Never say of any- 
thing, " I have lost it," but, " I have re- 
stored it " (Epictetus), 151; Love the art 
which* thou hast learned and be content 
with it. . . . Think not so much of what 
thou hast not as of what thou hast (Mar- 
cus Aurelius), 159, 161 ; I consult myself 
about a contentment ; I do not skim, but 
sound it. ... A man ought to study, 
taste, and ruminate upon it (Montaigne), 
251; He is rich, not that possesses much, 
but that covets no more (Quarles), 289 ; A 
contented mind enlargeth the dimension 
of little things (Browne), 304 ; When we 
cannot find contentment in ourselves, it 
is useless to seek it (La Rochefoucauld), 
312; Avoid discontented persons, unless 
to inform or reprove them (Penn), 333 ; 
All the states of life which you have not 
tried have their thorns, &p. (F6nelon), 
344 ; Murmur not at the ways of Provi- 
aence (Jefferson), 410 ; Enjoy the good 
that 's set before thee (Goethe), 416. 
See, also, Lot in life, Simplicity. 



Contradiction. See Disputation. 

Conversation, courtesy in (Ptah-hotep), 39; 
Buddhistic command against vain con- 
versation, 79 ; Conversation is a main 
function of life (Emerson), 457. 

Correction : He is in the way of life that 
heedeth correction (Proverbs), 52. 

Counsel. — Advice : In the multitude of 
counsellors there is safety (Proverbs), 
52; He ... is good that to the wiser 
friend his docile reason can submissive 
bend (Hesiod), 72 ; Do nothing without 
advice, and when done repent not (Ec- 
clesiasticus), 124 ; Act by the advice of 
good and honorable men (St. Louis) 176; 
Never follow your own wit in nowise 
(Suffolk), 201 ; H advice be given thee, 
profit by it (Mexican precept), 227 ; If a 
man knows where to get good advice, it 
is as though he could supply it himself 
(Goethe), 415 ; He is far from wise who 
has but his own wisdom (Joubert), 419. 

Courage : Habits of courage are spoiled by 
excess and defect (Aristotle), 109; Better 
not to five than to live a coward (Ra- 
leigh), 256 ; Be valiant, but not too ven- 
turous (Lyly), 262 ; In dangers there is 
no better companion than a bold heart 
(Gracian), 286 ; Traits of moral courage 
in every-day life (Stanislaus), 356. 

Courtesy. — Politeness. — Civility. — Rude- 
ness : Better a compliment to that which 
displeases than rudeness. . . . Treat a 
disputant with courtesy. . . . Answer 
him not in a crushing manner (Ptah- 
hotep), 36, 39 ; Exhibit yielding cour- 
tesy. . . . The superior man is anxious 
that his demeanor be respectful (Con- 
fucius), 101, 102 ; Jest not with a rude 
man (Ecclesiasticus), 119 ; Salute all peo- 
ple. ... Be courteous and spend freely 
(Mediaeval precept), 178, 179 ; Humility 
and courtesy overcometh all proud hearts 
(La Tour), 189; There is nothing that 
winneth so much with so little cost 
(Sidney), 246 ; Civil complacency con- 
sists with decent honesty (Browne), 303 ; 
Politeness of mind is in honorable and 
delicate thoughts (La Rochefoucauld), 
311; Politeness I would venture to call 
benevolence in trifles (Chatham), 391; 
Politeness is artificial good humor (Jef- 
ferson), 407 ; There is a politeness of the 
heart, allied to love (Goethe), 415 ; Po- 
liteness is a guard which covers rough 
edges of character and prevents their 



INDEX 



473 



wounding others (Joubert), 419 ; Polite- 
ness is to human nature what warmth is 
to wax (Schopenhauer), 445. See, also, 
Manners. 

Covetousness : Thou shalt not covet, &c. 
(Decalogue), 43 ; Buddhistic command 
against, 79 ; The superior man guards 
against covetousness (Confucius), 102 ; 
Form no covetous desire, that the bene- 
fit of the world may not be tasteless 
(Spirit of Wisdom), 1G4 ; Covetousness 
cracks the sinews of faith, &c. (Browne), 
300 ; To desire what belongs to another 
is misprision of robbery (Halifax), 316 ; 
Covet no man's property in any sort 
(Perm), 339. 

Cowley, Abraham. Translation from Mar- 
tial, 144. 

Cowper, William. Description of The 
Happy Man, from " The Task," 394. 

Credulity. See Trust. 

Criticism. See Censure. 

Cruelty : Thou shalt not put a stumbling 
block before the blind (Leviticus), 45 ; 
He that is cruel troubleth his own flesh 
(Proverbs), 52. See, also, Mercy, and 
Animals, treatment of. 

Curiosity : I never am curious to pry in 
the privacies of other men (Erasmus), 
212 ; Be not curious to know the affairs 
of others (Washington), 404. 

Cursing : Blessings give for curses (Manu), 
G5. 

Dancing: Abstain from (Buddhist com- 
mandments), 78. 

Death : The day of death better than the 
day of birth. . . . There is no work . . . 
in the grave (Ecclesiastes), 59, 61 ; Vir- 
tue alone stays by [one] at the tomb. 
. . . Long not for death, nor hanker 
after life (Manu), 6S, 70 ; Look to the 
end of life (Solon), 76; Death does 
not see him who looks down on the 
world (Dhammapada), 83 ; Look upon 
death or upon a comedy with the same 
expression (Seneca), 141 ; Death is not 
terrible ; the terror consists in our 
notion of death (Epictetus), 151 ; No 
man loses any other life than that which 
he now lives. . . . The present is the 
same to all. ... It is one of the acts of 
life, this by which we die (Marcus Aure- 
lius), 158, 160 ; To live in fear of death 
may possibly shorten life, but never 
make it longer (Erasmus), 214 ; We 



should not too much prize life which we 
cannot keep, nor fear death which we 
cannot shun (Essex-Bacon), 273; Happy 
is he . . . whose soul is still prepared lor 
death (Wotton), 282 ; Live like a neigh- 
bor unto death (Browne), 303. See, also, 
Life. 

Debt : Salt and lead not heavier than debt 
(Ahikar), 105 ; If you owe anything, pay 
it willingly (Mediaeval precept), 178 ; 
He that oweth much and hath nought, 
may be sorry, &c. (Rhodes), 208 ; Have 
the courage to discharge a debt while 
you have money (Stanislaus), 356 ; Never 
spend your money before you have it 
(Jefferson), 411. See, also, Borrowing, 
Honesty, Expenditure. 

Decalogue : The Buddhistic, 78, 79 ; The 
Hindu : Tenfold summary of duty, 70 ; 
The Mosaic, 4, 41. 

Decalogue of canons for practical life (Jef- 
ferson), 411. 

Deceit. See Falsehood, Hypocrisy. 

Deeds. See Doing. 

Deference. See Filial Duty, Elders, Au- 
thority, Honor. 

Deliberation. See Prudence. 

Dependents, treatment of (Ptah-hotep), 
37. 

Descartes, Bene", the provisional rules of, 
297. 

Designing. See Malice. 

Desirable. See Good. 

Desire : Desire is not extinguished by en- 
joyment (Manu), 67 ; Right desire in the 
heart, the greatest blessing (Buddha), 
79 ; If you desire things not in our own 
power you must be disappointed (Epic- 
tetus), 150 ; Have something left to wish 
for (Gracian), 287 ; Children and fools 
want everything (Halifax), 318. 

Detraction. See Slander. 

Dhammapada, selections from the, 82. 

Diligence. See Industry. 

Disappointment : There can be no entire 
disappointment to a wise man (Halifax), 
315. See, also, Prosperity. 

Discord. See Contention. 

Discrimination. — Choice : To choose well 
is the most important thing in life (Gra- 
cian), 286. 

Disdain. See Pride. 

Dishonesty. See Honesty. 

Disputation. See Contention. 

Dissension. See Contention. 

Dissimulation. See Falsehood, Hypocrisy. 



474 



INDEX 



Distrust. See Trust. 

Diversions. See Pleasure. 

Divorce. See Marriage. 

Dogmatism : The prudent man affirms 
not lightly what is doubtful (Thomas 
a Kempis), 203. 

Doing. — Deeds. — Achievement. — Per- 
formance : Divinity does not principally 
esteem the tongue, but the deeds. . . . 
Perform great things, promising nothing 
great (Pythagoras), 90, 93 ; "We should 
not judge a man's merit by his good 
qualities, but by the use he can make 
of them (La Rochefoucauld), 312 ; The 
pride of compassing may more than com- 
pare with the pleasure of enjoying (Hali- 
fax), 316 ; A man, like a watch, is to 
be valued for his goings (Penn), 328, 
It is not enough to know, we must 
apply ; not enough to will, we must do 
(Goethe), 416 ; Living requires little 
life ; doing requires much (Joubert), 
418 ; It is by doing right that we arrive 
at just principles (Swetchine), 437 ; A 
man wants to use his strength, to see, if 
he can, what effect it will produce (Scho- 
penhauer), 444 ; Conviction, were it never 
so excellent, is worthless till it convert 
itself into conduct. . . . Produce ! pro- 
duce ! were it but the pitifullest infinites- 
imal fraction of a product, produce it 
(Carlyle), 449, 450. See, also, Firmness. 

Drama. See Stage. 

Dress. — Personal adornment : One should 
not wear garlands or use perfumes 
(Buddha), 78 ; Be not too studied in 
dress; it is the mark of a little mind 
(Mexi ^an precept), 223 ; Rags and bravery 
will soon wear out of fashion ; but money 
in thy purse will ever be in fashion 
(Raleigh), 257 ; Let attire be comely, not 
too costly (Lyly), 262 ; The apparel oft 
proclaims the man (Shakespeare), 281 ; 
In apparel, avoid singularity, profuse- 
ness, and gaudiness (Quarles), 290 ; "Wear 
your clothes neat, &c. (Osborne), 294; 
Nothing is truly fine but what is fit (Hali- 
fax), 318 ; Choose thy clothes by thine 
own eyes (Penn), 326, 331 ; Do not con- 
ceive that fine clothes make fine men 
(Washington), 399, 401, 402, 403. 

Drunkenness. See Temperance. 

Duplicity. See Sincerity. 

Duty : Let no one forget his own duty for 
the sake of another's (Dhammapada), 
83 ; Let it make no difference to thee 



whether cold or warm, if thou art doing 
thy duty (Marcus Aurelius), 160 ; Re- 
solved to do whatever I think to be my 
duty (Edwards), 366, 373 ; What is your 
duty ? To fulfil the claims of the day. 
. . . Art thou little, do that little well. 
. . . Like the star. . . let each man 
wheel with steady sway round the task 
that rules the day, and do his best 
(Goethe), 414, 417 ; Men must either be 
the slaves of duty or of force (Joubert), 
419 ; Let us exceed our appointed duties. 
. . . There are not good things enough 
in life to indemnify us for the neglect of 
a duty (Swetchine), 437, 438 ; Do the duty 
which lies nearest thee (Carlyle), 449 ; 
See, also, Fidelity, Filial duty, Elders, 
Political duty, Religious injunctions. 

Early rising. See Sleep. 

Earnestness. — Seriousness. — Gravity. — 
Thoughtlessness. — Frivolity : Those 
who are in earnest do not die (Dham- 
mapada), 82 ; Do every act of thy life as 
if it were the last (Marcus Aurelius), 
158. 

Ecclesiastes, selections from, 7, 58. 

Ecclesiasticus, selections from, 113. 

Economy. See Expenditure. 

Economy of Human Life, selections from 
The, 362. 

Education. — Teaching. — Learning : Be 
not arrogant because of learning (Ptah- 
hotep) 33 ; Of making many books there 
is no end, and much study is a weariness 
(Ecclesiastes), 63 ; Much insight and ed- 
ucation the greatest blessing (Buddha), 
79 ; Make much of the colleges and sem- 
inaries. . . . Instruct sons and younger 
brothers (Confucius), 101 ; Hast thou 
children ? instruct them (Ecclesiasti- 
cus), 118 ; Men exist for one another ; 
teach them then, or bear with them 
(Marcus Aurelius), 161 ; Men learn when 
they teach (Rhodes), 208; Study the 
greatest pleasure of life. Make it a di- 
version, not a toil (Erasmus), 215 ; In 
study seek two things : first to conceive 
or understand ; second to lay up or re- 
member (Essex-Bacon), 277 ; To advise 
the ignorant is one of the duties that fall 
in our way almost daily (Addison), 353 ; 
The main business of education should 
be to direct the will (Joubert), 419. See, 
also, Books, Knowledge, Teachableness, 

Edwards, Jonathan, the resolutions of, 366. 



INDEX 



475 



Effrontery. — Impudence. — Imperti- 
nence : Impudence is no virtue, yet able 
to beggar them all (Osborne), 295. 

Eighteenth century, moral characteristics 
of, 27-29. 

Elders, conduct towards: Treat not with 
disrespect thy father, mother, teacher, 
elder brother (Manu), G5 ; Honor and sa- 
lute old men. ... Be careful not to 
mock the old (Mexican precept), 222 ; 
Prefer elders and strangers (Penn), 3152. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo : Passages from 
" The Conduct of Life," 456. 

Enchiridion of Epictetus, 15, 1G, 149. 

Enchiridion of Quarles, 289. 

Enjoyment. See Pleasure. 

Enmity : If thine enemy be hungry, &c. 
(Proverbs), 56 ; Love your enemy (Je- 
sus), 132 ; In friendships and enmities 
let your confidence and your hostilities 
have bounds (Chesterfield), 361. 

Envy : Envy is the rottenness of the bones 
(Proverbs), 54 ; Provoke not envy (Py- 
thagoras), 89 ; Envy and wrath shorten 
the life (Ecclesiasticus), 124; Bear no 
envy, that life may not be tasteless 
(Spirit of Wisdom), 164 ; Envy always is 
a concomitant of a pompous felicity 
(Erasmus), 211 ; Be not jealous of what 
the good God granteth to others (Mexican 
precept), 227 ; The greatest harm you 
can do unto the envious is to do well 
(Lyly), 262 ; Happy is he . . . who en- 
vies none (Wotton), 282 ; Let age, not 
envy, draw wrinkles on thy cheeks 
(Browne), 302 ; Envy is a passion we 
never dare to avow. . . . Envy is more 
irreconcilable than hatred (La Roche- 
foucauld), 310, 311 ; Malice may be 
sometimes out of breath, envy never 
(Halifax), 315 ; Virtue is not secure 
against envy. . . . Envy none (Penn), 
329, 335 ; Softening the envious is an em- 
ployment suited to a reasonable nature 
(Addison), 353 ; We should treat envy 
as the enemy of our happiness (Scho- 
penhauer), 443. 

Epictetus, selections from the precepts of, 
15, 16, 149. 

Epicurean morality, 13-15. 

Equanimity : Men are disturbed, not by 
things, but by the principles and notions 
which they form concerning things 
(Epictetus), 150 ; To be at peace with 
God is the fountain of true tranquillity 
(Erasmus), 214; Shun the dissipation 



which sudden fancies involve (Fonelon), 
343 ; The tranquillity of the life of the 
happy man described (Cowper), 394 ; Be 
not disturbed at trifles or accidents 
(Franklin), 37.S ; Take things always by 
their smooth handle (Jefferson), 411 ; 
Who through the heat of conflict keeps 
the law in calmness made (Wordsworth), 
430. See, also, Self-control, Anxiety, An- 
ger, Patience. 

Equity. See Justice, Honesty. 

Erasmus. "The Old Men's Dialogue," 
from the " Colloquies," 211. 

Essex, Earl of, Letter of advice to the 
Earl of Rutland, 269. 

Euphues and his Ephcebus, 260. 

Evil. See Righteousness, Goodness, Vir- 
tue. 

Evil-designing. See Malice. 

Evil-speaking. See Slander. 

Example : Thou mayest take examples of 
good conduct from a foe. . . . Something 
from all (Manu), 65 ; Example of good 
life more stirreth rude men than true 
preaching (Wyclif), 196; Edify thy 
neighbor by word and deed (Thomas a 
Kempis), 203 ; Set not bad examples 
(Mexican precept), 222 ; Make your ex- 
amples of wise and honest men (Wyatt), 
233 ; The life of Caesar has no greater 
example for us than our own (Montaigne), 
249 ; A man should not vainly endeavor 
to frame himself on other men's models 
(Bacon), 267 ; All men that live are 
drawn either by book or example (Essex- 
Bacon), 276 ; Example prevails more 
than precept (Osborne), 295 ; Nothing is 
so contagious as example (La Rochefou- 
cauld), 311 ; Resolution to imitate what 
seems commendable in others (Edwards), 
372 ; Wherein you reprove another be 
unblamable yourself (Washington), 403; 
Personal experience of the effect of a 
contemplation of good examples in char- 
acter (Jefferson), 406, 407 ; We reform 
others unconsciously when we walk up- 
rightly (Swetchine), 438. 

Excuses : Defending an ill thing is more 
criminal than doing it (Halifax), 315. 

Exercise. See Bodily care. 

Expenditure. — Extravagance. — Squan- 
dering. — Luxury. — Frugality. — Par- 
simony : Seek not in needless luxury to 
waste (Pythagoras), 89 ; Expenditure is 
divided into four classes : profit, loss, 
disgrace, and honor (Maimonides), 169; 



476 



INDEX 



Three things corrupt the world : pride, 
superfluity, and indolence (Welsh Triad), 
172 ; Be courteous and spend freely, and 
you will be more loved (Mediaeval pre- 
cept), 179 ; Waste not thy goods in great 
feasts (Wyclif), 196 ; Beware thou spend 
not above three or four parts of thy re- 
venue (Burleigh), 240 ; Never spend any- 
thing before thou have it (Raleigh), 256 ; 
Never buy but with ready money (Os- 
borne), 294 ; The art of laying out money 
wisely is not attained without thought 
(Halifax), 318 ; Frugality is good, if lib- 
erality be joined. . . . That is lost that is 
misused. . . . Cast up your income and 
live on half. . . . Frugality is the better 
way to be rich, for it has less toil and 
temptation (Perm), 326, 331, 340 ; Have 
courage to do without what you do not 
need ; ... to set down every penny you 
spend (Stanislaus), 357 ; The best error 
is on the parsimonious side. . . . Fru- 
gality is the sure guardian of our virtues 
(Chesterfield), 363 ; Make no expense but 
to do good to others or yourself (Frank- 
lin), 378, 379, 384 ; I cannot enjoin too 
strongly a due observance of economy 
(Washington), 401; Never buy what you 
do not want because it is cheap (Jeffer- 
son), 411 ; Be saving, but not at the 
cost of liberality (Joubert), 418. See, 
also, Avarice, Thrift, Debt. 

Extortion : Extortion maketh a wise man 
foolish (Ecclesiastes), 60. 

Extravagance. See Expenditure. 

Failure. See Success. 

Faith. See Trust. 

Faithfulness. See Fidelity. 

Falsehood. — Truthfulness. — Lying : Thou 
shalt not bear false witness (Decalogue), 
42 ; Nor lie one to another (Leviticus), 
44 ; He that speaketh truth in his heart 
(Psalm), 46, 410 ; The Lord hateth a ly- 
ing tongue ; . . . a false witness. . . . 
A righteous man hateth lying (Proverbs), 
51, 53 ; Speak not agreeable falsehood. 
. . . Veracity included in the tenfold 
summary of duty (Manu), 65, 70. One 
should not tell lies (Buddha), 78 ; Over- 
come the liar by truth (Dhammapada), 
84; Subdue untruthful men by truth- 
fulness (Maha-bharata), 95; Swear not 
false. . . . Love the truth (Ahikar), 104, 
105 ; In no wise speak against the truth. 
. . . Strive for the truth unto death. 



. . . Use not to make any manner of 
lie. ... A thief better than a man ac- 
customed to lie (Ecclesiasticus), 115, 
117, 122 ; If thou findest anything better 
than truth, &c, turn to it. . . . With 
all thy soul do justice and say the truth 
(Marcus Aurelius), 158, 159, 161 ; I have 
found no remedy for weakness of heart 
like the pursuit of truth and justice 
(Maimonides), 167 ; Stir all to love 
truth (Wyclif), 195 ; Proclaim the truth 
(Thomas a Kempis), 203 ; He that lieth 
till no man believe him, let him go 
where no man knoweth him (Rhodes), 
208, 209 ; Use not to lie ; . . . speak not 
every truth ; . . . a harmless lie is better 
than a hurtful truth (Ascham), 219, 220 ; 
Above all things, tell no untruth (Sid- 
ney), 247 ; Not telling all the truth is 
hiding it (Halifax), 315, 316 ; Never to 
speak anything but the pure and simple 
verity (Edwards), 369; Be true (Jeffer- 
son), 410 ; It is much easier to recognize 
error than to find truth (Goethe), 415 ; 
May prudence, fortitude, and truth erect 
your brow (Burns), 423. See, also, Sin- 
cerity, Promises, Hypocrisy. 

Fame. — Renown. — Glory : The vulgar is 
a depraved judge of beautiful deeds 
(Pythagoras), 93 ; There is a shame 
which is glory. . . . Envy not the glory 
of a sinner (Ecclesiasticus), 115, 119 
Notoriety and popular fame not to be 
reckoned amongst goods (Cicero), 128 ; 
Be a despiser of vain glory (Rhodes), 
208 ; Happy is he . . . untied unto the 
worldly care of public fame (Wotton), 
282 ; Be substantially great in thyself, 
and more than thou appearest (Browne), 
302 ; Look upon fame as the talk of 
neighbors at the street door (Richter), 
427. See, also, Honors, worldly ; Repu- 
tation. 

Familiarity : Be familiar to few, equal to 
all (Rhodes), 207 ; Be thou familiar, but 
by no means vulgar (Shakespeare), 281. 

Fanshawe, Sir R. Translation from Mar- 
tial, 144. 

Fashion : Have courage to prefer propriety 
to fashion (Stanislaus), 358. See, also, 
Dress. 

Father, duty towards. See Filial duty. 

Fault-finding. See Complaining, Censure. 

Fawning. See Flattery. 

Fear. See Courage. 

Fellowship. See Neighbors. 



INDEX 



477 



Fcmelon. Rules for a Christian life, 343. 

Fickleness. See Firmness. 

Fidelity. — Treachery : The perversity of 
the treacherous shall destroy them (Pro- 
verbs), 52 ; There is no inheritance like 
faithfulness (Maimonides), 168 ; Be faith- 
ful in little tilings (Thomas a Kempis), 
203 ; Who comprehends his trust, and 
to the same keeps faithful (Wordsworth), 
430. 

Filial duty (Ptah-hotep), 39, 40 ; Honor thy 
father and thy mother (Decalogue), 42 ; 
Fear every man his mother and his 
father (Leviticus), 44 ; Hear the instruc- 
tion of thy father, forsake not tiie law of 
thy mother (Proverbs), 48 ; By deep de- 
votion seek thy debt to pay. . . . Treat 
not with disrespect (Manu), G5 ; The man 
of sin is he confess' d who . . . his hoary 
parent stings with taunting rage (Hesiod), 
73, 74 ; To support father and mother, 
the greatest blessing (Buddha), 80 ; With 
lowly duty to thy parents bow (Pythag- 
oras), 8G ; Esteem most highly filial 
piety (Confucius), 100 ; Honor thy father 
and mother. . . . Help thy father in his 
age (Ecclesiasticus), 114, 118 ; To thy 
father and mother show honor and re- 
spect (St. Louis), 176; Love your lady 
and mother, obey her commandments, 
believe her counsels (Suffolk), 200 ; Re- 
vere, love and serve father and mother 
(Mexican precept), 222; The greatest 
comfort you can bestow on parents is to 
live well and learn well (Lyly), 262 ; 11 
thou wouldst be obeyed as a father, be 
obedient as a son (Penn), 328 ; Honor 
and obey your natural parents, altho' 
they be poor (Washington), 404 ; Rever- 
ence and cherish your parents (Jeffer- 
son), 410. 

Firmness. — Steadfastness. — Resolution. — 
Will. — Fickleness : Not lightly from thy 
resolution swerve (Pythagoras), 87; Abide 
by the rules of life you have deliberately 
proposed to yourself (Epictetus), 153 ; 
The prudent man changes not unreason- 
ably (Thomas a Kempis), 203 ; Be con- 
stant, but not obstinate (Rhodes), 207; 
Take some one path and march in a 
straight line (Descartes), 297 ; We have 
more power than will (La Rochefou- 
cauld), 310 ; Have the courage to adhere 
to a resolution . . . and to abandon it 
upon conviction. . . . Have courage to 
face a difficulty (Stanislaus), 357; H 



thou believest a thing impossible, thy 
despondency shall make it so (Chester- 
field), 363 ; Resolve to perform what you 
ought ; perform without fail what you 
resolve (Franklin), 377. See, also, Stub- 
bornness, Persuasion, Refusing, Doing. 

Fitness : It is not enough that a thing be 
right, if it be not fit (Penn), 327. 

Flattery : Have nothing to do with a treach- 
erous flatterer (Mediaeval precept), 179 ; 
Flatterers are the worst kind of traitors 
(Raleigh), 255 ; Love rather right words 
than flattering. . . . Let it be as painful 
to be praised of lewd and inhonest per- 
sons as if praised for lewd and inhonest 
deeds. . . . Allure not the love of any 
man by flattery (Rhodes), 206, 207 ; 
Keep some great man thy friend (Bur- 
leigh), 243 ; Happy is he . . . whose 
state can neither flatterers feed, nor &c. 
(Wotton), 283 ; Use the commentary of a 
severe friend, rather than the glosse of 
a sweetlipt flatterer (Quarles), 290 ; If 
we did not flatter ourselves, flattery of 
others would be harmless. . . . Flattery 
is a false coin, &c. (La Rochefoucauld), 
311 ; Be no flatterer (Washington), 402. 
(See, also, Praise. 

Folly. See Fools. 

Fools : As the crackling of thorns under a 
pot is the laughter of the fool (Ecclesias- 
tes), 60; Shame shall be the promotion 
of fools. . . . The companion of fools 
shall smart (Proverbs), 50, 53 ; There is 
no companionship with a fool. . . . The 
fool becomes full of evil, even if he 
gathers it little by little (Dhammapada), 
82, 83; Consult not with a fool (Eccle- 
siasticus), 119; The three laughs of a 
fool : at the good, at the bad, and at he 
knows not what (Welsh Triad), 172 ; 
Never had a fool thorough enjoyment 
(Chesterfield), 363. 

Forbearance : See Magnanimity, Patience, 
Retaliation, Anger. 

Forestalling: He that withholdeth corn, 
the people shall curse him (Proverbs), 
53. 

Forethought. See Prudence. 

Forgetfulness : Be able to forget (Gracian), 
287. 

Forgiveness. — Pardon : Forgive ... so 
shall thy sins he forgiven (Ecclesiasticus), 
122 ; If ye forgive men, your heavenly 
Father will forgive you (Jesus), 133 ; 
Grant pardon before it is asked (Seneca), 



478 



INDEX 



142 ; Draw the curtain of night upon in- 
juries (Browne), 302 ; Forgiveness — the 
hardest lesson to man (Perm), 334 ; We 
forgive too little — forget too much 
(Swetchine), 43S. 

Fortitude : If thou flndest anything better 
than fortitude, &c, turn to it. . . . It is 
a shame for the soul to give way when 
the body does not (Marcus Aurelius), 
158, 159, 160 ; Suffering with fortitude 
the accidents of life a primary principle 
of wisdom (Welsh Triad), 171 ; Clearness 
of judgment leadeth us to fortitude. . . . 
If custom be strong to confirm one virtue 
more than another it is fortitude (Essex- 
Bacon), 273 ; May prudence, fortitude, 
and truth erect your brow (Burns), 423 ; 
Fortitude, that last virtue which crowns 
the others (Lacordaire), 453. See, also, 
Patience, Courage. 

Fortune : What man calls fortune is from 
God (Pythagoras), 87 ; Things necessary 
to acquisition of fortune as difficult as 
those for obtaining virtue. ... No man's 
fortune can be an end worthy of the gift 
of being (Bacon), 265-266 ; Leave off the 
game with fortune while in luck (Gra- 
cian), 2S4 ; Let not fortune, which hath 
no name in scripture, have any in thy 
divinity (Browne), 304 ; A noble spirit 
disdaineth the malice of fortune (Ches- 
terfield), 363. See, also, Lot in life, Pros- 
perity. 

Franklin, Benjamin. Plan for acquiring 
habits of virtue, 376. 

Fraud. See Honesty. 

Friendship : Make no friendship with a 
man that is given to anger (Proverbs), 
55 ; Have for friends the best of men 
(Dhammapada), 82 ; Choose out the man 
to virtue best inclined. . . . Esteem 
those eminently friends who assist your 
soul (Pythagoras), 86, 91 ; H thy friend 
be sick, go on foot and see him (Ahikar), 
104 ; If thou wouldst get a friend, prove 
him first. ... A faithful friend is the 
medicine of life. . . . Change not a friend 
for any good. . . . Forsake not an old 
friend ; the new is not comparable. . . . 
A friend cannot be known in prosperity. 
. . . Admonish a friend ; it may be he 
hath not done it (Ecclesiasticus), 117, 
118, 119, 120, 122; I had rather lose my 
money than my friend (Erasmus), 212; 
Nothing more becoming any wise man 
than to make choice of friends (Raleigh), 



254; The friends thou hast, and their 
adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul 
(Shakespeare), 281; Live with those 
from whom you can learn. . . . Make 
teachers of your friends. . . . Let your 
friends be the friends of your deliberate 
choice (Gracian), 285, 286; Enter no 
serious friendship with the ingrateful 
man, the multiloquious man, the coward 
(Quarles), 289 ; There is more skill neces- 
sary to keep a friend than to reclaim an 
enemy. ... Do not lay out your friend- 
ship too lavishly at first (Halifax), 315, 
318, 319 ; Choose a friend as thou dost a 
wife, till death (Penn), 327 ; No blessing 
of life is comparable to the enjoyment of 
a discreet and virtuous friend (Addison), 
354 ; A friend should bear with a friend's 
infirmities — not his vices (Stanislaus), 
358 ; In friendships and enmities, let 
your confidence and your hostilities have 
bounds (Chesterfield), 361 ; Be courteous 
to all, but intimate with few; and let 
those few be well tried. . . . True friend- 
ship is a plant of slow growth (Washing- 
ton) 399 ; Our chief want in life is some- 
body who shall make us do what we can 
(Emerson), 458. See, also, Companions. 

Frivolity. See Earnestness. 

Frugality. See Expenditure. 

" Fruits of Solitude," selections from 
Penn's, 326. 

Fuller, Thomas. Selections from " The 
Holy State," 305. 

Gambling: Despise gambling. ... If [a 
man] gaineth, he weaveth spider's webs 
(Maimonides), 169; Use not dicing nor 
carding (Ascham), 220 ; Be neither gam- 
bler nor thief. . . . One is the occasion 
of the other (Mexican precept), 224 ; Re- 
frain from dicing (Lyly), 261 ; Gambling 
is a vice productive of every possible 
evil (Washington), 399 ; Stake in no lot- 
teries (Richter), 427. 

Generosity. See Magnanimity, Charity (of 
the Spirit), Benevolence, Giving. 

Geniality. See Good nature, Anger. 

Gentlemanliness. See Courtesy, Manners. 

Gentleness : A soft answer turneth away 
wrath (Proverbs), 54; Do not speak 
harshly to anybody (Dhammapada), 83 ; 
Be gentle in works and words (Ahikar), 
104 ; Be gentle and mild to foes (Seneca), 
142; He that speaks hastily is like a 



INDEX 



479 



snarling hound (Thomas a Kempis), 203. 
See, also, Anger. 
Giving. — Almsgiving. — Bountifulness. — 
Stinginess. — Liberality : Leave glean- 
ings for the poor (Leviticus), 44 ; The 
liberal soul shall be made fat. ... He 
that hath pity upon the poor lendeth 
to the Lord (Proverbs), 52, 55 ; Cast 
thy bread on the waters. . . . Give a 
portion to seven (Ecclesiastes), 01 ; See 
that he to wliom thou givest worthy be. 
. . . Talk not of thy gifts. . . . The merit 
of thy alms melts away by ostentation. 
. . . Bestowing gifts on strangers while 
kindred starve ... is cruelty disguised 
(Manu), 06, 69; Give to the giver, but 
the churl pass by. Men fill the giving, 
not the ungiving hand. . . . Though 
much he give, the willing donor shall 
rejoice and live (Hesiod), 74 ; To bestow 
alms ; ... to give help to kindred, the 
greatest blessiug (Buddha), 80 ; Give, if 
thou art asked for little. . . . Overcome 
the greedy by liberality (Dhammapada), 
84 ; Conquer a man who never gives by 
gifts. . . . He who is not rich and yet 
can give will be exalted (Maha-bharata), 
95, 90 ; To give to the right person, at 
the right time, &c. not easy (Aristotle), 
110 ; Turn not away from the needy. 
Give unto the good, and help not the 
sinner. . . . Lose thy money for thy 
brother and friend (Ecclesiasticus), 115, 
120, 123 ; When thou doest alms sound 
not a trumpet (Jesus), 133 ; I have no 
possessions so real as those I have given 
to deserving people (Seneca), 141 ; Have 
compassion upon the needy. . . . Take 
care that their faces be not put to the 
blush on account of your gifts (Maimo- 
nides), 168 ; Give to the poor whenever 
you have money. ... Be liberal in gifts 
(Mediaeval precept), 178, 179; Those 
that give with judgment find a delight 
(Essex-Bacon), 273, 275 ; Be charitable 
before wealth makes thee covetous 
(Browne), 300 ; Giving what you do not 
want nor value neither brings nor de- 
serves thanks (Stanislaus), 358; Not 
every one who asketh deserveth charity ; 
all, however, are worthy of the inquiry 
(Washington), 399 ; How can that gift 
leave a trace which has left no void 
(Swetchine), 437 ; Choose some poor per- 
son and relieve him regularly (Lacor- 



daire), 453. See, also, Avarice, Benevo- 
lence. 

Glory. See Fame. 

Gluttony. See Temperance. 

God. See Religious injunctions. 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Selections 
from " Maxims and Reflections," 28, 29, 
413. 

Golden Rule, the : In the Maha-bharata 
(twice formulated), 8, 97 ; In Confucian 
Analects, 10, 101 ; In the sayings of 
Ahikar, 105 ; In the Sermon on the 
Mount, 17, 135. 

"Golden Verses of Pythagoras," 86. 

Good. — Desirable. — The Best : Esteem 
that eminently good which is increased 
to yourself when communicated to an- 
other (Pythagoras), 91 ; What is honor- 
able alone is good (Cicero), 127, 128; The 
highest good is a mind which despises the 
accidents of fortune and takes pleasure 
in virtue (Seneca), 138; Let whatever 
appears best be an inviolable law (Epicte- 
tus), 153 ; Happy is he . . . who never 
understood . . . nor rules of state, but 
rules of good (Wotton), 282 ; He fixes 
good on good alone (Wordsworth), 430. 
See, also, Happiness. 

Good name, A. See Reputation. 

Good nature. — Geniality. — Benignity. — 
Moroseness. — Sullenness : Pleasant 
words are as an honeycomb (Proverbs), 
54 ; The superior man is anxious that 
his countenance be benign (Confucius), 
102 ; A merry heart maketh a cheer- 
ful countenance (Ecclesiasticus), 120 ; 
Smooth your way to the head thro' the 
heart. . . . The most useful art of all, 
that of pleasing, requires only the desire 
(Chesterfield), 361 ; Resolved to exhibit 
an air of love, cheerfulness and benig- 
nity. . . . When most conscious of pro- 
vocation, to strive most to feel good- 
naturedly (Edwards), 372, 374 ; Good 
humor one of the preservatives of peace 
and tranquillity (Jefferson), 407. 

Goodness : It is hard to be good (Aristotle), 
110 ; Every good tree bringeth forth 
good fruit (Jesus), 136 ; No longer talk 
about the kind of man that a good man 
ought to be, but be such (Marcus Aure- 
lms), 161 ; Reject death and evil ; choose 
life and good ; the option is given you 
(Maimonides), 165 ; Resolutions to strive 
for all qualities of goodness (Edwards), 
366-374 ; Perfection is the measure of 



480 



INDEX 



heaven ; the wish to be perfect the mea- 
sure of man (Goethe), 410 ; Desire no 
more intellect than is requisite for per- 
fect goodness (Swetchine), 437. See, 
also, Virtue, Righteousness. 

Gossip. — Talebearing. — Scandal : Do not 
repeat extravagances of language (Ptah- 
hotep), 37 ; Thou shalt not go up and 
down as a talebearer (Leviticus), 45 ; He 
that goeth about as a talebearer (Pro- 
verbs), 52 ; If thou hearest an evil word 
about any one hide it (Ahikar), 104 ; Be 
not called a whisperer. ... If thou hast 
heard a word let it die with thee (Eccle- 
siasticus), 116, 121 ; Utter no ill-timed 
gossip (Spirit of Wisdom), 164 ; Of ab- 
sent persons I either say nothing or 
speak with kindness (Erasmus), 212 ; 
Carry no tales (Ascham), 219 ; If thou 
keepest clear of carrying tales and repeat- 
ing jests thou wilt keep clear of lying and 
of sowing discord (Mexican precept), 
223, 224. See, also, Scandal, Speech. 

Gracian, Balthasar, selections from the 
maxims of, 284. 

Gratitude. — Ingratitude. — Thankfulness : 
I will not reckon benefits by their magni- 
tude or number (Seneca), 141 ; Gratitude 
is a noble sort of justice. . . . There is 
something baser in ingratitude than in- 
justice (Penn), 339 ; I have never known 
men of ability to be ungrateful (Goethe), 
415. 

Gravity. See Earnestness. 

Greed. See Avarice. 

Grief. See Sorrow. 

Grumbling. See Complaining. 

Habit. — Use. — Practice : By virtuous use 
thy life and manners frame (Pythagoras), 
89 ; For a test of the formation of habits 
take the pleasure or pain which succeeds 
the acts (Aristotle), 109; Accustom your- 
self to good morals, for the nature of man 
depen,deth upon habit (Maimonides), 165; 
"When there is a custom gotten of avoiding 
to do evil, then cometh a gentle courage 
(Wyatt), 236 ; Make such a habit of well- 
doing that you shall not know how to do 
evil (Sidney), 247 ; Where virtues are 
but budding they must be ripened by 
clearness of judgment and custom of 
well-doing (Essex-Bacon), 272, 273 ; Good 
methods and habits obtained in youth 
will make you happy the rest of your 
days (Penn), 332 ; Plan for acquiring 



habits of virtue (Franklin), 376; Impor- 
tance of the habits acquired in the acqui- 
sition of knowledge (Washington), 400. 

Halifax, Lord. Selections from Moral 
Thoughts and " Advice to a Daughter," 
314, 316. 

Happiness: Contentment is the root of 
happiness. . . . Wouldst thou be happy, 
be thou moderate (Manu), 67 ; Happiness 
■ is the outcome of good. . . . Let us live 
happily, though we call nothing our own 
(Dhammapada), 83 ; Seek happiness in 
deeds of virtue and usefulness (Maha- 
bharata), 96; Tranquillity renders life 
happy. . . . The wise man is always 
happy. ... A happy life is comprised 
in honesty alone. . . . Happiness com- 
pounded of good things which alone are 
honorable (Cicero), 127, 128 ; Rules for 
a happy life (Seneca), 138 ; The happy 
life described by Martial, 143-147; If 
thou workest at that which is before 
thee, . . . expecting nothing, fearing no- 
thing, . . . thou wilt live happy. . . . 
Enjoy life by joining one good thing to 
another, not to leave the smallest inter- 
val between (Marcus Aurelius), 159, 161, 
162 ; The happy life described (Wotton), 
282 ; Happiness lies in the taste," and not 
in things. . . . We are never so happy 
or unhappy as we imagine (La Roche- 
foucauld), 310 ; The great and constant 
pleasures of life, not to be crossed if one 
faithfully seeks happiness, are in health, 
reputation, knowledge, doing good, and 
the expectation of. another world (Locke), 
321-323 ; If thou wouldst be happy, bring 
thy mind to thy condition /Penn), 328 ; 
Never was a wise man wholly unhappy 
(Chesterfield), 363 ; The happy man de- 
scribed (Cowper), 394 ; The happiest 
man is he who can link the end of his 
life with its commencement. . . . The 
happiest is he whose nature asks for 
nothing that the world does not wish 
and use (Goethe), 415, 416 ; Character 
of the happy warrior (Wordsworth), 
429 ; Is not life sufficiently happy when 
it is useful (Swetchine), 437 ; What a 
man has in himself is the chief element 
in his happiness. . . . The two 1 " foes of 
happiness are pain and boredom. . . . 
The man whom nature has endowed with 
intellectual wealth is the happiest (Scho- 
penhauer), 441, 443; There is in man a 
higher than love of happiness : he can do 



INDEX 



481 



without happiness, and instead find 
blessedness (Carlyle), 448. See, also, 
Good, Contentment, Pleasure, Life. 

Harlotry. See Chastity. 

Hatred : Thou shalt not hate thy brother 
(Leviticus), 45 ; He that hideth hatred is 
of lying lips. . . . Better a diimer of 
herbs where love is than a stalled ox and 
hatred (Proverbs), 52, 54; Let us dwell 
free from hatred (Dhammapada), 83; 
Hate as if sometime to love (Bias), 269 ; 
Hatred attends upon fear (Pythagoras), 
92 ; Have hatred and contempt for no 
one (Mexican precept), 227 ; Dislike 
what deserves it, but never hate (Penn), 
329; Chiefly, hate no man (Goethe), 41G; 
Hatred may be praiseworthy if provoked 
by a lively love of good (Joubert), 418. 

Haughtiness. See Pride. 

Health. See Bodily care. 

Helpfulness. See Benevolence. 

Hesiod, Selections from " Works and 
Days," 11,71. 

Hoarding. See Avarice. 

Honesty. — Integrity. — Uprightness. — 
Dishonesty. — Fraud : A just weight is 
the Lord's delight. . . . Divers weights 
and measures are an abomination to the 
Lord. ... It is naught, oaith the buyer 
(Proverbs), 52, 55 ; Pay that which thou 
vowest (Ecclesiastes), 58 ; Ne'er give 
thy mind to aught but honest gain. . . . 
Honesty included in the tenfold summary 
of duty (Manu), 70 ; He that shall heaps 
of gold command [by fraud or rapacity] , 
him shall the gods cast down. . . . The 
man of sin is he confess' d . . . who robs 
the orphans (Hesiod), 73; When the 
superior man sees gain to be got, he 
thinks of righteousness (Confucius), 102 ; 
Eat not bread that is not thine own. . . . 
Take not with a big weight and give with 
a little (Ahikar), 104 ; Defraud not the 
poor. . . . Let not thy hand be stretched 
to receive and shut when thou shouldst 
repay. ... Be not ashamed of exactness 
of balance and weights (Ecclesiasticus), 
114, 116, 125; Plunder not from the 
wealth of others (Spirit of Wisdom), 
164 ; Keep firm to your word. . . . Dis- 
dain all cunning subterfuges. . . . Flee 
far from doubtful possessions (Maimoni- 
des), 167 ; The sure foundations and stab- 
lished opinions ,that leadeth to honesty. 
... If you will seem honest, be honest 
(Wyatt), 230, 235 ; Resolve that no man 



is wise or safe but he that is honest (Ra- 
leigh), 258 ; Let not the law be the non 
ultra of thy honesty (Browne), 301 ; 
There is more wit requisite to be an hon- 
est man than to be a knave (Halifax), 
314 ; A man of integrity is a true man, a 
bold man, and a steady man (Penn), 339; 
Have courage to show preference for 
honesty (Stanislaus), 358 ; All rests at 
last on that integrity which dwarfs tal- 
ent, and can spare it (Emerson), 460. 
See, also, Righteousness, Sincerity, Fi- 
delity, Falsehood, Theft, Extortion. 

Honor. — Respect. — Deference. — Vener- 
ation : To honor those worthy of honor 
is the greatest blessing (Buddha), 79 ; 
Due rites perform and honors to the dead 
(Pythagoras), 86. 

Honorable : What is honorable is the only 
good (Cicero), 127, 128 ; Be an honorable 
opponent (Gracian), 286; Where ye feel 
your honor grip, let that ay be your 
border (Burns), 422 ; Fame is something 
which must be won ; honor, only some- 
thing which must not be lost (Schopen- 
hauer), 442. 

Honors, worldly : Shrink from worldly 
honor as from poison (Manu), 67 ; There 
is no nobility like that of morality (Mai- 
monides), 168 ; Let ambition have but 
an epicycle or narrow circuit in thee 
(Browne), 303 ; The pomp, honor, and 
luxury of the world are cheats (Penn), 
332 ; The happy man o'erlooks the world 
(Cowper), 394 ; Does not stoop nor lie in 
wait for wealth or honors, &c. (Words- 
worth), 430. See, also, Fame. 

Hope : Hope deferred maketh the heart 
sick (Proverbs), 53 ; Hope serves at least 
to conduct us thro' life by an agreeable 
path (La Rochefoucauld), 311 ; Hope is 
generally a wrong guide, though very 
good company (Halifax), 315 ; Hope not 
beyond reason (Penn), 328. 

Hospitality : Be courteous to thy guest 
(Manu), 69; The man of sin is he con- 
fess'd . . . who wrongs the guest. . . . 
Bid to thy feast a friend ; thy foe for- 
bear (Hesiod), 73, 74 ; Let thy hospitality 
be moderate ; . . . rather plentiful than 
sparing, but not costly (Burleigh), 240, 
242; Hospitality is good, if the poorer 
sort are the subjects (Penn), 326. 

Humility. — Lowliness. — Meekness : The 
Lord giveth grace unto the lowly. . . . 
With the lowly is wisdom (Proverbs), 



482 



INDEX 



50, 52 ; Reverence and lowliness, the 
greatest blessing (Buddha), 80; If thy 
doorposts be loftily built, bow thy head 
(Ahikar), 104 ; The greater thou art, 
the more humble thyself (Ecclesiasti- 
cus), 114 ; Blessed are the poor in spirit. 
. . . Blessed are the meek (Jesus), 130 ; 
Meekness and humility are the steps of 
the ladder to virtue (Maimonides), 169 ; 
Humility and courtesy overcometh all 
proud hearts (La Tour), 189 ; Live a 
humble life. . . . Ever keep meekness 
(Wyclif), 196, 198 ; Humility merits the 
favor of God (Mexican precept), 223, 225 ; 
Owe not thy humility unto humiliation 
by adversity. . . . Look humbly upon 
thy virtues (Browne), 302 ; Humility is 
the true proof of Christian virtues (La 
Rochefoucauld), 312 ; Be humble, but 
not servile. . . . Meekness seems to be 
humility perfectly digested, and from 
a virtue become a nature (Penn), 327, 
337 ; Imitate Jesus Christ and Socrates 
(Franklin), 378 ; We have two great vir- 
tues to acquire, humility and penance 
(Lacordaire), 453. See, also, Pride. 

Husband. See Marriage. 

Hypocrisy; He who pretends to be what 
he is not commits the worst of crimes 
(Manu), 69 ; No dissimulation can be 
long concealed (Pythagoras), 92 ; Hypo- 
crisy is the homage which vice renders 
to virtue (La Rochefoucauld), 311. See, 
also, Sincerity, Earnestness, Falsehood. 

Ideals: Choose a heroic ideal, rather to 
emulate than imitate (Gracian), 285 ; 
"Whose high endeavors are an inward 
light, &c. (Wordsworth), 429. 

Idleness. See Industry. 

Idolatry : Commandments against (Deca- 
logue), 42 ; (Leviticus), 44. 

Ignorance. See Knowledge. 

Ill nature. — HI temper. See Good nature, 
Anger. 

Independence. See Self-reliance. 

Indolence. See Industry. 

Industry. — Diligence. — Work. — Labor. 
— Indolence. — Idleness : Do not spoil 
the time of thy activity. . . . Love for 
the work they accomplish transports men 
to God (Ptah-hotep), 35, 38; The hand 
of the diligent maketh rich. ... Go to 
the ant, thou sluggard. . . . He that 
gathereth by labor shall have increase. 
. . . The soul of the diligent shall be I 



made fat. ... A man diligent in busi- 
ness shall stand before kings (Proverbs), 
51, 53, 56 ; Whatsoever thy hand findeth 
to do, do it with thy might. ... In the 
morning sow thy seed (Ecclesiastes), 61, 
62 ; Perform thy own appointed work 
unweariedly. . . . Thou canst not gather 
what thou dost not sow (Manu), 67, 68 ; 
On the sluggard hungry want attends. 
. . . Love every seemly toil (Hesiod), 
73; To follow a peaceful calling, the 
greatest blessing (Buddha), 80; Rouse 
thyself ! do not be idle (Dhammapada), 
83 ; True goods never produced by indo- 
lent habits (Pythagoras), 91 ; Be active 
now, while thou art young (Maha-bha- 
rata), 97 ; Labor diligently at your proper 
callings (Confucius), 101 ; Hate not la- 
borious work (Ecclesiasticus), 118 ; Sub- 
mit to labors, however great (Seneca), 
141 ; Labor not unwillingly (Marcus Au- 
relius), 158 ; Eat of thine own regular 
industry ; form a portion for God and 
the good (Spirit of Wisdom), 164; Ab- 
hor indolence (Maimonides), 168 ; Three 
things corrupt the world : pride, super- 
fluity, and indolence (Welsh Triad), 172; 
Truly and willingly do thy labor (Wy- 
clif), 197 ; Be neither idle in solitude nor 
a babbler in public (Thomas a Kempis), 
204 ; Beware chiefly of idleness, the 
great pathway to all evils (Ascham), 220; 
Be not a lounger on the pavement. . . . 
Sow and thou shalt reap. . . . We live 
not in this world without much labor 
(Mexican precept), 223, 224, 226 ; If thou 
dost not want labor for food thou may- 
est for physic. . . . Diligence is a dis- 
creet and understanding application of 
one's self to business (Penn), 326, 339; 
Be always employed in something use- 
ful (Edwards), 378, 379, 384; With dili- 
gence there is nothing you may not 
conquer (Chatham), 3S7 ; Spend a fair 
share of every day upon the serious 
occupations of your state (Lacordaire), 
453 ; I do not wish to be any more busy 
with my hands than is necessary. My 
head is hands and feet (Thoreau), 465. 
See, also, Thrift, Doing, Occupation. 

Ingratitude. See Gratitude. 

Iniquity. See Wickedness. 

Inquisitiveness. See Questioning. 

Instruction. See Education, Teachable- 
ness. 

Integrity. See Honesty. 



INDEX 



483 



Jealousy: Who is able to stand before 
jealousy (Proverbs), 57 ; Be uot jealous 
over the wife of thy bosom (Ecclesias- 
ticus), 119 ; Jealousy is iu some sort just 
and reasonable, &c. ... In jealousy 
there is more self-love than love (La 
Rochefoucauld), 310, 311 ; Be not fanci- 
fully jealous ; to be reasonably so is wise 
(Penn), 328, 335. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters to Thomas Jef- 
ferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson 
Smith, 406, 410. 

Jesting : Mix with sadness thy merry jests, 
but temperately (Rhodes), 206; Many 
win a reputation for being witty at the 
cost of their credit for being sensible 
(Gracian), 285 ; Break not a jest where 
none take pleasure in mirth (Washing- 
ton), 403. See, also, Merriment. 

Jesus : The Sermon on the Mount, 130. 

Joubert, Joseph. Selections from the Pen- 
s6es, 418. 

Judgment. See Justice, Reason. 

Justice : Of the wise man (Ptah-hotep), 39 ; 
Do no unrighteousness in judgment (Le- 
viticus), 45 ; Let justice o'er thy word 
and deed preside. . . . Not to act un- 
justly is sufficient to a blessed life (Pytha- 
goras), 87, 91 ; The man with power who 
forbears to use it indiscreetly will be ex- 
alted (Maha-bharata), 96 ; Be not faint- 
hearted in judgment. . . . Blame not 
before thou hast examined (Ecclesiasti- 
cus), 115, 120 ; Judge not that ye be not 
judged (Jesus), 135 ; If thou findest any- 
thing better than justice, &c, turn to it. 
. . . With all thy soul do justice and say 
the truth (Marcus Aurelius), 158, 159, 
161 ; With enemies, struggle with equity 
(Spirit of Wisdom), 164 ; Truth and jus- 
tice are the ornaments of the soul (Mai- 
monides), 167 ; Help the right (St. Louis), 
175 ; Do right and equity to all men ( Wy- 
clif), 195 ; Without knowledge there can 
be no justice (Essex-Bacon), 275 ; Be just 
in all things, to all (Penn), 338, 339 ; 
Withhold judgments which you are not 
obliged to pronounce (F<melon), 343 ; Do- 
ing justice to a deserving character is an 
employment suited to a reasonable na- 
ture (Addison), 353 ; Wrong none, by 
deed or omission (Franklin), 378, 379, 
384; Be just (Jefferson), 410; Justice 
comes after prudence as a cardinal vir- 
tue (Lacordaire), 452. See, also, Cen- 
sure, Oppression. 



Kempis, Thomas a. See Thomas a Kempis. 

Kindness. See Benevolence. 

Kinship : Behave with generosity to your 
kindred (Confucius), 100. 

Knight of La Tour-Landry, The book of 
the, 185. 

Knowledge. — Ignorance: The fear of the 
Lord is the beginning of knowledge 
(Proverbs), 48 ; Knowledge of the noble 
truths, the greatest blessing (Buddha), 
SO ; Bend thy serious thought to search 
the profitable knowledge out. . . . Be- 
ware thy meddling hand . . . beyond 
thy reach of knowledge. . . . The whole 
life of an ignorant man a disgrace (Py- 
thagoras), 88, 92 ; Better be blind of eye 
than blind of mind (Ahikar), 104 ; If 
thou hast understanding, answer ; if 
not, lay thy hand on thy mouth. . . . 
Be not ignorant of any tiling (Ecclesi- 
asticus), 116 ; With an ignorant man be 
not a confederate (Spirit of Wisdom), 
164; The three great ends of know- 
ledge : duty, utility, and decorum 
(Welsh Triad), 172; Meddle with no- 
thing you do not understand (Mediaeval 
precept), 179; The prudent man speaks 
with reserve of what he is ignorant of 
(Thomas a Kempis), 203 ; Let it not be 
unknown nor grievous to thee that thou 
hast not knowledge of anything (Rhodes), 
207, 208 ; Where knowledge wants, the 
man is void of all good (Bacon), 275-278 ; 
If thou hast attained knowledge, put it 
in practice (Quarles), 292; Knowledge 
is the treasure, but judgment the trea- 
surer (Penn), 338 ; Have the courage to 
acknowledge ignorance (Stanislaus), 358 ; 
The first step towards being wise is to 
know that thou art ignorant (Chester- 
field), 362; The use of learning is to 
render a man wise and virtuous (Chat- 
ham), 387 ; It is much easier to recog- 
nize error than to find truth (Goethe), 
415 ; See, also, Education. 

Labor. See Industry. 

Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henri. The 

four cardinal virtues. Advice to young 

men, 452, 453. 
Language. See Speech. 
La Rochefoucauld, Duke de. Selections 

from Sentences and Moral Maxims, 310. 
La Tour, Geoffroy de. Instructions to his 

daughters, 187. 
Laughter. See Merriment. 



484 



INDEX 



Laziness. See Indolence. 

Learning. See Knowledge, Education. 

Lending. See Borrowing. 

Leviticus, Commandments from, 44. 

Liberality. See Giving, Expenditure, 
Avarice. 

Licentiousness. See Chastity. 

Life : Look upon the world as a bubble 
(Dhammapada), 83 ; Where a man can 
live, there he can live well. . . . Live 
with the gods (Marcus Aurelius), 160 ; 
Each man ought to live to save himself 
and to help others (Wyclif), 198 ; The 
great and glorious masterpiece of man 
is to know how to live to purpose. . . . 
'Tis not only the fundamental, but the 
most illustrious of occupations. . . . 
There is no science so hard as well to 
know how to live this life (Montaigne), 
250, 251 ; Our life is long if we know 
how to use it (Lyly), 261 ; Behave thy- 
self in thy course of life as at a ban- 
quet (Quarles), 292 ; Reckon not upon 
long life, but live always beyond thy 
account (Browne), 303 ; If we divide 
the life of most men into twenty parts, 
we shall find at least nineteen are mere 
gaps and chasms (Addison), 352 ; Re- 
solved to live with all my might while I 
do live (Edwards), 366 ; Enjoy thy exist- 
ence more than thy manner of existence. 
. . . Despise life, that thou mayest enjoy 
it (Richter), 427 ; There is nothing at all 
in life except what we put there (Swetch- 
ine), 438 ; Why should we live with 
such hurry and waste of life ? ... As 
for work, we have n't any of any conse- 
quence (Thoreau), 464. See, also, Lot 
in life, Death. 

Litigation : Be fully resolved that thou 
hast right on thy side before attempting 
law (Burleigh), 242 ; Use law and physic 
only for necessity (Quarles), 291. 

" Little Garden of Roses," Selections from 
the, 202. 

Locke, John. Thus I think, 321. 

Lot in life : Behave in life as at an enter- 
tainment, taking your share with mod- 
eration. . . . Remember that you are an 
actor in a drama, of such kind as the 
author pleases to make it (Epictetus), 
151, 152; Adapt thyself to the things 
with which thy lot has been cast (Marcus 
Aurelius), 160 ; God knoweth what state 
is best for thee (Wyclif), 197. See, also, 
Contentment, Prosperity, Fortune. 



Louis IX., King of France (Saint Louis). 
Instructions to his son, 174. 

Love : Better a dinner of herbs where 
love is. . . . Better open rebuke than 
love that is hidden (Proverbs), 54, 
57 ; Overcome anger by love (Dhamma- 
pada), 84 ; Love attends upon rever- 
ence (Pythagoras), 92 ; Love your enemy 
(Jesus), 132 ; He that no man loves, few 
will know (Rhodes), 209 ; Love as if 
some time to hate (Bias), 269; Do not 
believe and do not love lightly (Gracian), 
286 ; The pleasure of love is in loving 
(La Rochefoucauld), 311. 

Lowliness. See Humility. 

Loyalty : Above all earthly things, be true 
liegeman to the king (Suffolk), 200. 

Lust. See Chastity. 

Luxury. See Expenditure. 

Lying. See Falsehood. 

Lyly, John, on the education of youth, 
250. 

Magnanimity, Towards a disputant (Ptah- 
hotep), 34 ; If thine enemy be hungry, 
&c. (Proverbs), 56 ; Thoughts of mag- 
nanimity (Marcus Aurelius), 157, 161 ; 
Magnanimity is the good sense of pride 
(La Rochefoucauld), 311 ; Show not 
yourself glad at the misfortune of an- 
other, though your enemy (Washington), 
402. See, also, Charity (of the Spirit). 

Maha-bharata, Selections from the, 8, 9, 
95. 

Maimonides, Moses ben, to his son, 165. 

Malice. — Mischief-making. — Evil de- 
signing : The Lord hateth mischief- 
making. . . . The Lord hateth an heart 
that deviseth wicked imaginations. . . . 
He that searcheth after mischief, it 
shall come unto him (Proverbs), 51, 53 ; 
Buddhistic command against, 79 ; Life 
is easy for a mischief-maker (Dhamma- 
pada), 84 ; Malice is a greater magni- 
fying glass than kindness (Halifax), 315. 

Manners : Mediaeval code of good mamiers, 
from " Stans Puer ad Mensam," 180 ; 
Instructions of a schoolmaster to a boy 
on gentlemanly behavior (Erasmus), 
216 ; Mexican rules of polite behavior, 
222-225 ; Towards superiors, equals, 
and inferiors (Burleigh), 243 ; Have you 
known how to compose your manners ? 
You have done more than he who has 
composed books (Montaigne), 250 ; In 
manners, be not caught with novelty 



INDEX 



485 



(Essex-Bacon), 274 ; Good manners is 
such a part of good sense that they can- 
not be divided (Halifax), 316 ; Pride, ill 
nature, and want of sense are the great 
sources of ill manners. . . . Good sense 
is the principal foundation of good man- 
ners (Swift), 349 ; One's own good 
breeding is best security against ill man- 
ners of others (Chesterfield), 3G1 ; Be- 
havior [manners] is certainly founded 
in considerable virtues (Chatham), 390- 
392 ; A man's manners are the mirror in 
which he shows his portrait (Goethe), 
415. See, also, Courtesy. 

Manu, Selections from the Code of, 9, G4. 

Marcus Aurelius, Selections from the 
" Thoughts " of, 16, 157. 

Marriage : Love thy wife without alloy 
(Ptah-hotep), 37 ; Live joyfully with thy 
wife whom thou lovest (Ecclesiastes), 
61 ; To cherish wife and child, the 
greatest blessing (Buddha), 80 ; Be not 
jealous over the wife of thy bosom (Ec- 
clesiasticus), 119 ; One that putteth away 
his wife, saving for fornication, maketh 
her an adulteress (Jesus), 131 ; Live 
happily with the wife of your youthful 
years ; but touch not the one which is 
not yours (Maimonides), 170 ; Govern 
well thy wife, children, and household 
attendants (Wyclif), 196 ; Mexican in- 
junctions to a wife, 228 ; Such as ye are 
unto your wife shall she be unto you 
(Wyatt), 233 ; From the choosing of thy 
wife will spring all thy future good or 
evil. . . . Marry thy daughters in time, 
lest they marry themselves (Burleigh), 
239, 241 ; The only danger [in the choice 
of a wife] is beauty (Raleigh), 254 ; 
Never marry but for love ; but see that 
thou lovest what is lovely (Penn), 327, 
335, 336 ; Have courage to listen to your 
wife, &c. (Stanislaus), 358. 

Martial. Description of the happy life, 
143-147. 

Massillon. On the use of time, 345 

Mean, The: Still the best (Cleobulus), 
76 ; Injunctions for the keeping of the 
(Aristotle), 108. 

Meddling : I intermeddled with no one's 
affairs (Erasmus), 212 ; Meddle not 
with affairs in which thou art not con- 
cerned (Mexican precept), 222 ; Never 
meddle with other folk's business. . . . 
Know your own business and mind it 
(Penn), 334, 335. 



Mediaeval precepts, 178. 

Mediaeval code of manners, 180. 

Mediaeval morals, 19, 20. 

Meditation. See Self-communion. 

Meekness. See Humility. 

Mercy : The merciful man doeth good to 
his own soul. . . He that hath mercy 
on the needy honoreth his Maker (Prov- 
erbs), 52, 54 ; Blessed are the merciful 
(Jesus), 130 ; Stir all men to love mercy 
(Wyclif), 195 ; God has shown mercy to 
man and made it his duty (Penn), 338. 
See, also, Cruelty, Benevolence. 

Merivale, C, Translation from Martial, 
146. 

Merriment, — Mirth. — Laughter: Sorrow 
is better than laughter. ... As the 
crackling of thorns under a pot is the 
laughter of the fool (Ecclesiastes), 59. 
60 ; Let not your laughter be much 
. . . Avoid an endeavor to excite laugh 
ter (Epictetus), 152 ; Laughter is reprov 
able if out of measure (Rhodes), 206 
Give yourself to be merry (Sidney) 
246 ; Be merry, but with modesty 
sober, but not too sullen (Lyly), 262 
Let not thy mirth intoxicate thy mind 
(Chesterfield), 363 ; It is rare to see in 
any one a graceful laughter (Chatham), 
390. See, also, Pleasure, Jesting. 

Method. See Order. 

Mexican code of moral precepts, 221. 

Mildness. See Gentleness. 

Mind : Be vigilant in your intellectual 
part (Pythagoras), 90 ; Gifts or excel- 
lencies of mind the same as those of the 
body ; beauty, health, and strength (Es- 
sex-Bacon), 271. 

Mirth. See Merriment. 

Mischief-making. See Malice. 

Miserliness. See Avarice. 

Mistakes. See Success. 

Mockery. See Ridicule. 

Moderation : "Wouldst thou be happy, be 
thou moderate (Manu), 67 ; Too much of 
nothing (Pittacus), 76 ; Prize modera- 
tion (Confucius), 101 ; It is the nature 
of moral action to be spoiled by defect 
and excess (Aristotle), 108; Be not 
unsatiable in any dainty thing (Eccle- 
siasticus), 124 ; Drain nothing to the 
dregs ; neither good nor evil (Gracian), 
286 ; Christ's sermon on the mount is 
one continued divine authority in favor 
of an universal temperance (Penn), 340, 



486 



INDEX 



341; Avoid extremes (Franklin), 378. 
See, also, Temperance. 

Modesty : Life is hard for a modest man 
(Dhammapada), 84 ; The most pleasing 
thing on earth (Ahikar), 105 ; Be modest, 
for it is reasonable (Thomas a Kempis), 
203 ; Be modest in discourse • . . Let thy 
looks be modest (Mexican precept), 222, 
223, 226 ; Be modest in each assembly 
(Sidney), 247. See, also, Chastity, 
Ribaldry. 

Montaigne. On the cultivation of life, 
249. 

Moroseness. See Good nature, Anger. 

Mosaic Commandments, 4, 5, 41, 44. 

Mother, Duty towards a. See Filial Duty. 

Motives : We should often be ashamed of 
our best actions if the world saw all the 
motives (La Rochefoucauld), 312. 

Murder, Thou shalt do no (Decalogue), 42 ; 
The Lord hateth hands that shed inno- 
cent blood (Proverbs), 51 ; One should 
not take life (Buddha), 78 ; Poison no 
one (Mexican precept), 222. 

Music: Abstain from (Buddhist com- 
mandments), 78. 

Needy, Treatment of the : See Giving, 
Mercy, Oppression. 

Neighbors. — Fellowship. — Social Rela- 
tionship : Be not irritable towards thy 
neighbor (Ptah-hotep), 36; Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself (Leviticus), 
45 ; Devise not evil against thy neigh- 
bor. ... He that despiseth his neigh- 
bor is void of wisdom. . . . Let thy feet 
be seldom in thy neighbor's house, &c. 
(Proverbs), 49, 52, 56 ; The good neigh- 
bor is our prop and stay (Hesiod), 74 ; 
The golden rule of conduct towards a 
neighbor (Maha-bharata), 97 ; We are 
made for co-operation, like feet, like 

hands, &c To act against one 

another is contrary to nature (Marcus 
Aurelius), 157, 158 ; Thy food, clothing, 
protection, &c, thou owest to the assist- 
ance of others. ... It is thy duty there- 
fore to be a friend to mankind (Chester- 
field), 364. 

Niggardliness. See Expenditure, Giving. 

No, Saying. See Refusing. 

Non-resistance. See Retaliation. 

Oath, Making : He that sweareth to his 
own hurt (Psalm), 46, 410 ; Swear not at 



all (Jesus), 132 ; Avoid swearing, if pos- 
sible, altogether (Epictetus), 152. 

Obedience : to authority (Ptah-hotep), 34; 
Unless you feel what obedience is you 
shall never teach others to obey (Sidney), 
246. 

Obscenity. See Ribaldry. 

Observation : He that lives long and sees 
much, but observes nothing, shall never 
prove a wise man (Essex-Bacon), 278. 

Obstinacy. See Stubborness, Firmness. 

Occupation. — Business : Do not make a 
business of what is no business (Gracian), 
286 ; Choose God's trades [agricultural 
and pastoral] before men's (Penn), 
332 ; Endeavor to be first in thy calling, 
whatever it be (Chesterfield), 362 ; Let 
eminence in your profession be your 
ambition (Washington), 398 ; What thou 
best canst understand is just the thing 
lies nearest to thy hand (Goethe), 417 ; 
The high prize of life is to be born with 
a bias to some pursuit (Emerson), 457. 

Old age : The bodily decay of age (Ptah- 
hotep), 32. See, also, Youth. 

Old Men's Dialogue, The, 211. 

Oldest book in the world, The, 1, 32. 

Opinion : Despise not one who differs in 
opinion (Ptah-hotep), 34 ; Many are de- 
ceived by their own vain opinion (Ec- 
clesiasticus), 114; Gather an heap of 
good opinions ... as it were on your 
fingers' ends (Wyatt), 236 ; Be not light 
to follow every man's opinion, neither 
obstinate in your own conceit (Lyly), 
262, 263 ; Think with the few, and speak 
with the many (Gracian), 285; Shun 
fantastic opinions (Penn), 333. 

Opinion, Public : Do nothing because of 
public opinion, but everything because 
of conscience (Seneca), 141. 

Opportunity : He who lets slip an oppor- 
tunity finds not again the fitting time 
(Maha-bharata), 97 ; Observe the oppor- 
tunity (Ecclesiasticus), 115 ; We should 
not always wait for occasions, but some- 
times challenge them (Bacon), 268 ; Op- 
portunity should never be lost, &c. 
(Penn), 329. 

Oppression : Thou shalt not oppress thy 
neighbor (Leviticus), 44 ; He that op- 
presseth the poor reproacheth his 
Maker (Proverbs), 54 ; One higher than 
the high regardeth . . . the oppression of 
the poor and the violent taking away of 



INDEX 



487 



judgment (Ecclesiastes), 59. See, also, 
Justice. 

Order.— 'Method.— System : Never neglect 
the duty of the present hour to do an- 
other thing (Halifax), 318 ; Draw your 
affairs iuto as narrow a compass as you 
can, and in method and proportion. . . . 
Divide your day, &c. (Penn), 331, 333 ; 
Let all things have their places ; each 
part of business its time (Franklin), 377, 
379, 384 ; Order is to arrangement what 
soul is to body and mind to matter (Jou- 
bert), 419. 

Osborne, Francis. Selections from " Advice 
to a Son," 294. 

Ostentation of piety and good works : Do 
not your righteousness before men. . . . 
Let not thy left hand know, &c. . . . 
When thou prayest enter thy inner 
chamber (Jesus), 132, 133 ; Be a hider of 
virtue as other be of vice (Rhodes), 208 ; 
Be not the trumpet of your own charity 
(Osborne), 295 ; Do what good thou 
canst unknown (Penn), 329 ; The man 
whose virtues are more felt than seen 
(Cowper), 396. 



Parental duty : Bring up a son who shall 
be pleasing to God. . . . Train thy son 
to be a teachable man (Ptah-hotep), 35, 
39 ; I reckon it no small dishonesty to 
myself to have an unhouest taught child 
(Wyatt), 236; Bring thy children up in 
learning and obedience, yet without out- 
ward austerity (Burleigh), 240, 241 ; Eu- 
phues and his Euphcebus (Lyly), 260 ; 
Have as strict a guard upon yourself 
amongst your children as amongst your 
enemies (Halifax), 317 ; It is not how we 
leave our children, but what we leave 
them. . . . Love them with wisdom, cor- 
rect them with affection. . . . Punish 
more by their understandings than the 
rod (Penn), 328, 336, 337. See, also, Edu- 
cation, Marriage. 

Parents, Duty towards. See Filial duty. 

Parsimony. See Expenditure, Avarice. 

Passion. See Anger, Self-control. 

Passions : Restrain thy passions (Manu), 
66 ; It is more painful to be subservient 
to passions than to tyrants. ... As 
many passions, so many despots (Pythag- 
oras), 91, 92 ; Physic hath not more 
medicines against diseases of the body 
than reason hath preservatives against 



passions of the mind (Essex-Bacon), 272 ; 
The passions have an injustice and an in- 
terest of their own (La Rochefoucauld), 
310 ; Passion is a sort of fever . . . cur- 
able with care (Penn), 329 ; The passions 
may all become innocent if well directed 
(Joubert), 418. See, also, Self-control. 

Pastime. See Pleasure. 

Patience. — Constancy : The patient in 
spirit is better than the proud (Ecclesi- 
astes), 60 ; With patience bear reviling 
language. . . . Included in the tenfold 
summary of duty (Manu), 65, 70; To be 
long-suffering, the greatest blessing 
(Buddha), 80 ; With patience bear the 
lot to thee assigned (Pythagoras), 87 ; 
Bear railing words with patience (Maha- 
bharata), 96 ; Everything has two 
handles, one by which it may be borne, 
the other by which it cannot (Epictetus), 
153; Ever keep patience (Wyclif), 197; 
Without knowledge there can be no con- 
stancy or patience (Essex-Bacon), 275; 
Be able to wait (Gracian), 285; If you 
cannot imitate Job, yet come not short 
of Socrates (Browne), 302 ; A man who 
isjmaster of patience is master of every- 
thing (Halifax), 316 ; Be patient, but not 
insensible. . . . Patience and diligence, 
like faith, remove mountains. . . . Pa- 
tience is an effect of a meek spirit 
(Penn), 327, 328, 337; Take things always 
by their smooth handle (Jefferson), 411 ; 
Imitate time ; it destroys slowly (Jou- 
bert), 419. See, also, Fortitude. 

Peacemaking. See Contention. 

Penance : Think not to hide thy guilt un- 
der a cloak of penance (Manu), 66. 

Penitence. — Repentance : Be not ashamed 
to confess thy sins. . . . Reproach not 
a man that turneth from sin (Ecclesias- 
ticus), 115, 119 ; Amendment is repent- 
ance (Penn), 329 ; Repentance is ac- 
cepted remorse (Swetchine), 437 ; We 
have two great virtues to acquire, humil- 
ity and penance (Lacordaire), 453. 

Penn, William. Selections from his " Fruits 
of Solitude," and from his "Advice to 
his Children," 25-27, 326, 330. 

Performance. See Doing. 

Periander, saying of, 76. 

Persecution : Blessed they that have been 
persecuted for righteousness' sake. . . . 
Pray for them that persecute you (Jesus), 
130, 132. 

Perses, advice to, 72. 



488 



INDEX 



Perseverance.— Persistence : Strive to com- 
plete the task commenced. . . . Seek 
fortune with persistency till death 
(Manu), 68; Force falls to the lot only 
of the privileged few, but perseverance 
can be practiced by the most insignifi- 
cant (Swetchine), 438 ; Theories and 
plans of life are fair and commendable 
(Emerson), 459. 

Personal adornment. See Dress. 

Persuasion : Sweet persuasion wins the 
easy to believe (Pythagoras), 87. See, 



Petitioners: Give respectful hearing to 
petitioners (Ptah-hotep), 35; The man of 
sin is he confessed who spurns the sup- 
pliant (Hesiod), 73. 

Piety. See Religious injunctions. 

Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, Letters to 
his nephew, 387. 

Pittacus, saying of, 76. 

Pity. See Benevolence, Mercy, Cruelty. 

Pleasure. — Amusement. — Recreation. — 
Diversions : He who amuses himself all 
day long keeps not his fortune (Ptah- 
hotep), 38 ; He that loveth pleasure shall 
be a poor man (Proverbs), 55 ; A man 
hath no better thing than to eat, drink, 
and be merry (Ecclesiastes), 61 ; Abstain 
from dancing, music, singing and stage 
plays (Buddhist commandments), 78 ; He 
who lives without looking for pleasure, 
MSra will not overthrow. . . . Leave the 
small pleasure and look to the great 
(Dhammapada), 82, 84 ; Impossible to be 
a lover of pleasure and a lover of Divin- 
ity (Pythagoras), 93, 94; Guard most 
carefully against pleasure, because we 
are not impartial judges of it (Aristotle), 
111 ; He that denies himself lawful plea- 
sures increases the surety of resisting the 
unlawful (Thomas a Kempis), 202; Look 
upon pain and pleasure with an eye 
equally regular (Montaigne), 251 ; Use 
pastime as the word importeth (Lyly), 
262 ; If thou desire time should not pass 
too fast, use not too much pastime 
. . . Let recreation be manly, moderate, 
seasonable, lawful (Quarles), 282, 290 ; 
Spill not the morning in recreations ; 
for sleep itself is a recreation (Fuller), 
307 ; To turn our whole life into a holi- 
day destroyeth pleasure (Halifax), 320 ; 
A mastery of passions will afford a con- 
stant pleasure greater than vicious en- 
joyments (Locke), 323 ; Such diversions 



as are merely innocent, and have no- 
thing else to recommend them, are be- 
low reasonable creatures (Addison), 354; 
The love of pleasure is sure to enslave 
whoever does not resist the first allure- 
ments (Chatham), 387 ; The happy man 
o'erlooks the world. She scorns his 
pleasures, for she knows them not (Cow- 
per), 394 ; What amusements are to be 
taken, and when, is the great matter. 
. . . Let your recreations be manful, not 
sinful (Washington), 400, 404; Little joys 
refresh us constantly like house-bread 
(Richter), 426 ; Not pleasure, but free- 
dom from pain, is what the wise man 
will aim at (Schopenhauer), 442; Indulge 
in lawful pleasures of mind, heart, or 
senses with gratitude and moderation 
(Lacordaire), 453. See, also, Happiness, 
Merriment. 

Pole, William de la, Duke of Suffolk. Let- 
ter to his son, 200. 

Politeness. See Courtesy, Manners. 

Political duty : Promptly pay your taxes 
(Confucius), 101; It is as hard to be a 
true politician as to be truly moral 
(Bacon), 265 ; Meddle not with govern- 
ment (Perm), 335 ; Mitigating the fierce- 
ness of party is an employment suited to 
a reasonable nature (Addison), 353 ; Love 
your neighbor as yourself, and your coun- 
try more (Jefferson), 410. 

Polonius to Laertes, 281. 

Poor, Treatment of the. See Giving r Be- 
nevolence, Mercy, Oppression. 

Pope, Alexander. The happy man, 145. 

Popularity. See Reputation. 

Poverty. See Riches. 

Practice. See Habit. 

Praise. See Flattery, Censure. 

Prayer. See Religious injunctiona 

Prejudice. See Sincerity. 

Presumption : Beware thy meddling hand 
. . . beyond thy reach of knowledge 
(Pythagoras), 88. 

Pride. — Haughtiness. — Arrogance. — 
Scorn : Arrogance because of know- 
ledge. . . . Inspire not men with fear. 
... Be neither haughty nor mean 
(Ptah-hotep), 33, 34, 38 ; The Lord scorn- 
eth the scorners. . . . The Lord hateth 
haughty eyes. . . . When pride cometh, 
then cometh shame. ... By pride cometh 
only contention (Proverbs), 50, 51, 52, 
53 ; Treat no one with disdain. . . . 
The scorned may sleep in peace; . . . 



INDEX 



489 



the scorner perisheth (Manu), G5, G7 ; 
Say uot, Who shall control me. . . . 
Laugh no man to scorn (Ecclesiasticus), 
116, 117; God will not love him who 
loves to look at the pomposity of pride 
(Welsh Triad), 171, 172 ; Trample pride 
under foot (Thomas a Kempis), 204 ; 
Disdain not thy inferiors. . . . Despise 
no man's folly and ignorance (Rhodes), 
207, 208 ; Contemn no poor man, mock 
no simple man (Ascham), 219 ; Be not 
haughty towards the old, the infirm, &c. 
. . . tremble lest you be as unfortunate 
(Mexican precept), 222, 226 ; If thou 
seest anything in thyself which may 
make thee proud, look a little further, 
&c. (Quarles), 292 ; Shun pride and base- 
ness, tutors to contempt, of yourself and 
others (Osborne), 294; A truly virtuous 
man prides himself on nothing (La 
Rochefoucauld), 311 ; One kind of pride 
is as much a virtue as the other is a vice 
(Halifax), 319; Have courage to speak to 
a friend in a seedy coat. ... To own 
that you are poor ... to laugh at your 
personal defects ... to wear your old 
garments, &c. (Stanislaus), 357, 358 ; 
Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and 
cold (Jefferson), 411; A great mistake : 
to hold oneself too high and rate oneself 
too cheap (Goethe), 414; We have two 
great vices to beat down, pride and sen- 
suality (Lacordaire), 453. See, also, Hu- 
mility. 

Privacy : He lives happily that lives hid- 
denly or privately. . . . It doubles man's 
life (Penn), 334; The happy man . . . 
doomed to an obscure but tranquil state, 
is pleased with it (Cowper), 394. 

Profanity : Thou shalt not take the name 
of the Lord thy God in vain (Decalogue), 
42 ; Ye shall not swear by my name 
(Leviticus), 44 ; Buddhistic command 
against, 79; Beware of cursing (Wyclif)^ 
197; Let never oath be heard to come 
out of your mouth (Sidney)/ i 247. 

Profusion. See Expenditure. 

Promises : He that sweareth to his own 
hurt and changeth not (Psalm), 46, 411 ; 
Pay that which thou vowest (Ecclesi- 
astes), 58; Let not bill, witness, or pos- 
session be stronger in your sight than a 
promise by word of mouth (Maimonides), 
167 ; Rarely promise, constantly perform 
(Perm), 328 ; Undertake not what you 



cannot perform, but be careful to keep 
your promise (Washington), 404. 

Prosperity. — Adversity. — Fortune : Be- 
havior in prosperity (Ptah-hotep), 38 ; 
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and 
in the day of adversity consider : God 
hath made the one side by side with the 
other. . . . The race is not to the swift- 
. . . Remember the days of darkness 
(Ecclesiastes), 61, 62; Whether fortune 
comes or goes take no notice of her 
(Seneca), 141; If God send adversity, 
accept it patiently. ... If prosperity, 
thank him humbly (St. Louis), 174 ; So 
use prosperity that adversity may not 
abuse thee. . . . Seest thou good days? 
prepare for evil times (Quarles), 290, 
292 ; It requires greater viitaes to sup- 
port good than bad fortune (La Roche- 
foucauld), 310. See, also, Fortune. 

Proverbs, selections from the Book of, 5, 
6, 47. 

Prudence. — Caution. — Deliberation. — 
Forethought. — Rashness. — Reckless- 
ness : Let wary thought each enterprise 
forerun. . . . After long consultation, en- 
gage in speaking or acting (Pythagoras), 
88, 90 ; Whatsoever thou takest in hand, 
remember the end. ... Go not in, a 
way wherein thou mayest fall . . . Put 
all in writing (Ecclesiasticus), 118, 124, 
125 ; The prudent man thinks before he 
acts (Thomas a Kempis), 203 ; Accustom 
the mind to judge the proportion and 
value of things. . . . Beware of being 
carried to things beyond our strength. 
... Do not engage too peremptorily in 
anything (Bacon), 268, 269 ; Do not de- 
spise an evil because it is small. . . . 
Have no days of carelessness ; destiny 
loves to play tricks. . . . Look into the 
inside of things. . . . Keep always some- 
thing behind in store (Gracian), 287 ; 
Wise venturing is the most commend- 
able part of prudence (Halifax), 315; 
Have courage to be content with small 
profits (Stanislaus), 358 ; Use not to- 
day what to-morrow may want (Chester- 
field), 363 ; What we plan, what we un- 
dertake, should be so clearly mapped 
out, &c. . . . Distinguish between what 
is attainable and what is not (Goethe), 
414, 415 ; Better debate a question with- 
out settling it than settle it without de- 
bate ( Joubert), 419 ; To do what we do 
carelessly is to lose time inevitably (Swet- 



490 



INDEX 



chine), 438 ; May prudence, fortitude, 
and truth, erect your brow (Burns), 423 ; 
Prudence is at the beginning of all the 
cardinal virtues (Lacordaire), 452. 

Psalm, The Fifteenth, 46, 410. 

Ptah-hotep, the precepts of, 1, 32. 

Public opinion. See Opinion, public. 

Punctuality : A necessary part of good 
manners is a punctual observance of 
time (Swift), 350. 

Purity. See Chastity. 

Purpose : The masterpiece of man is to 
know how to live to purpose (Montaigne), 
250 ; Imitate nature, which does nothing 
in vain (Bacon), 2G9 ; Be busy to pur- 
pose ; for a busy man and a man of busi- 
ness are two different things (Penn), 340 ; 
Let every man ask himself with which of 
his faculties he can somehow influence 
his age (Goethe), 416 ; The hero is he 
who is immovably centred (Emerson), 
459. 

Pythagoras, The Golden Verses of. Pytha- 
goric sentences, 85. 



Quarles, Francis, selections from the En- 
chiridion of, 289. 

Quarrelling. See Contention. 

Questioning : The superior man is anxious 
to question others (Confucius), 102 ; Be 
not curious in unnecessary matters (Ec- 
clesiasticus), 114 ; Be not ashamed to in- 
quire (Maimonides), 166 ; Ask questions 
of good men (Mediaeval precept), 178. 

Quintus Fixlein's " Rules of Life," 426. 



Raleigh, Sir Walter. Instructions to his 
son and to posterity, 254. 

Rashness. See Prudence. 

Reading. See Books. 

Reason. — Judgment: Let reason e'en thy 
meanest actions guide. . . . The reason- 
ing art is oft an erring guide. ... By 
using reason as guide you will avoid 
crimes (Pythagoras), 87, 92; Socrates 
became perfect, improving himself by 
everything, attending to nothing but rea- 
son (Epictetus), 153; If thou findest 
anything better than thy own mind's 
self-satisfaction in things done according 
to right reason, turn to it (Marcus Aure- 
liuB), 159 ; I will employ my life in cul- 
tivating my reason and advancing in the 
knowledge of truth (Descartes), 298 ; He 



that doth not use his reason is a tame 
beast ; he that abuses it is a wild one 
(Halifax), 316 ; Let memory fail so long 
as you can rely on your judgment (Goe- 
the), 415; Whose law is reason; who 
depends upon that law (Wordsworth), 
429. 

Rebuke. See Reproof. 

Recklessness. See Prudence. 

Recreation. See Pleasure. 

Refinement : Judge refinement by the test 
of conscience. . . . What is base no 
polish can make sterling (Cowper), 396. 
See, also, Taste. 

Reformation. See Self -improvement, Self- 
control. 

Refusing : A gilded No satisfies more than 
a dry Yes (Gracian), 285. 

Regret : Let the past be past forever 
(Goethe), 416. 

Religious injunctions : (Decalogue), 42 ; 
(Leviticus), 44 ; (Proverbs), 48 ; (Eccle 
siastes), 58, 62, 63 ; (Manu), 66, 67, 70 
(Hesiod), 73 ; (Buddha), 80 ; (Pythag 
oras), 86, 91; (Ahikar), 105; (Ecclesi 
asticus), 117, 125 ; (Jesus), 133, 134, 135 
(Welsh Triads), 171; (St. Louis), 174 
(La Tour), 190 ; (Wyclif), 195 ; (Suffolk) 
200; (Ascham), 219; (Mexican), 222 
(Wyatt), 231, 233, 236 ; (Burleigh), 239 
(Sidney), 245; (Raleigh), 258; (Lyly) 
263 ; (Essex-Bacon), 275 : (Wotton), 283 
(Quarles), 291 ; (Browne), 300 ; (Penn) 
330, 332, 333,336 ; (Fenelon), 343 ; (Add 
son), 353 ; (Stanislaus), 358 ; (Edwards) 
366-374; (Franklin), 382; (Chatham) 
389, 390 ; (Jefferson), 410 ; (Burns), 422, 
423; (Lacordaire), 453-454. See, also. 
Profanity, Commandments. 

Renown. See Fame. 

Repentance. See Penitence. 

Reproach. See Reproof. 

Reproof. — Rebuke. — Reproach. — Ad- 
monition : Better the rebuke of the wise 
than the song of fools (Ecclesiastes), 60 ; 
Take rebuke patiently (Rhodes), 207 ; 
Take all admonitions thankfully (Wash- 
ington), 403. See, also, Correction. 

Reputation. — Popularity : A good name 
better than precious ointment (Ecclesi- 
astes), 59; Get the love of the congre- 
gation (Ecclesiasticus), 115 ; I advise thee 
not to affect or neglect popularity too 
much (Burleigh), 243; Popularity is a 
crime from the moment it is sought. 
. . . The invisible thing called a good 



INDEX 



491 



name is made up of the breath of num- 
bers (Halifax), 314, 319; We are only 
really alive when we enjoy the good will 
of others (Goethe), 414. 

Resentment. See Anger. 

Resignation £ee Contentment. 

Resolution : Make few resolutions, but 
keep them (Penn), 332. See, also, Firm- 
ness, Doing, Persuasion, Stubbornness. 

Respect. See Courtesy, Filial Duty, El- 
ders, Authority, Honor. 

Rest. See Bodily Care. 

Retaliation. — Revenge. — Self-defence : 
Smite not him who smites thee (Maha- 
bharata), 96 ; Whosoever smiteth thee 
on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
other (Jesus), 132 ; The best way of 
avenging thyself is not to become like 
the wrong-doer (Marcus Aurelius), 1G0 ; 
Glory in forbearance, because that is the 
true strength and real victory (Maimon- 
ides), 168 ; Hath any wronged thee ? 
be bravely reveng'd : slight it and the 
work 's begun ; forgive it and 't is finisht 
(Quarles), 291 ; Write thy wrongs in 
water (Browne), 302 ; Be not provoked 
by injuries to commit them (Penn), 329 ; 
Never to do anything out of revenge 
(Edwards), 367. 

Reticence. See Speech. 

Revels : Beware of secret corners and 
night-sitting up (Ascham), 220. 

Revenge. See Retaliation. 

Reverence. See Filial Duty, Elders, Au- 
thority, Religious Injunctions. 

Rhodes, Hugh. Rule of honest living, 
from the " Boke of Nurture," 206. 

Ribaldry. — Obscenity : If anything ob- 
scene be said, don't laugh at it (Eras- 
mus), 217, 218 ; Let never word of ri- 
baldry come out of your mouth (Sidney), 
247. See, also, Modesty, Chastity. 

Riches. — Wealth. — Poverty. — Want : 
Riches to be used as by a steward of the 
good things of God (Ptah-hotep), 38 ; 
The hand of the diligent raaketh rich. . . . 
Riches profit not in the day of wrath. . . . 
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall. 
. . . There is that maketh himself rich, 
yet hath nothing, &c. . . . Wealth got- 
ten by vanity shall be diminished. . . . 
Better is little with the fear of the 
Lord (Proverbs), 51, 52, 53, 54 ; He that 
loveth silver shall not be satisfied with 
silver. . . . When goods increase they are 
increased that eat them. ... A grievous 



evil [is] riches kept by the owner to his 
hurt (Ecclesiastes), 59 ; Let us live hap- 
pily, though we call nothing our own 
(Dhamiuapada), 83 ; Wealth, the perish- 
ing, uncertain good. . . . The non- 
possession of unnecessary goods the 
greatest wealth. . . . Impossible to be 
a lover of riches and a lover of Divin- 
ity (Pythagoras), 87, 91, 93, 94 ; Endive 
and gall not more bitter than poverty 
(Ahikar), 105; Set not thy heart upon 
thy goods. . . . When thou art rich, 
think upon poverty (Ecclesiasticus), 116, 
121 ; Riches not to be reckoned amongst 
goods (Cicero), 128 ; Where thy treasure 
is, there will thy heart be (Jesus), 134; 
I will despise riches as much when I have 
them as when I have them not (Seneca), 
141 ; Seek not riches basely (Raleigh), 
257; Happy is he who, having nothing, 
yet hath all (Wotton), 283 ; He is rich, 
not that possesses much, but that covets 
no more. . . . Command thy money, lest 
she command thee. ... Be not too 
greedy, &c. (Quarles), 290 ; A slave unto 
Mammon makes no servant unto God. 
. . . Take no satisfaction in dying but 
living rich. . . . Unto some it is wealth 
enough not to be poor (Browne), 300, 301, 
304 ; The things to be bought with money 
are such as least deserve a price (Hali- 
fax), 315; Seek not to be rich, but 
happy ; the one lies in bags, the other in 
content (Penn), 328 ; Even riches shall 
not make thee unhappy, if, &c. . . . 
The distribution is more equal than the 
fool can believe (Chesterfield), 363, 364; 
Gather gear by ev'ry wile that 's justified 
by honor (Burns), 422 ; It is a mercy to 
the rich that there are poor. . . . We 
are rich only through what we give 
(Swetchine), 438 ; It is usually only when 
we have lost our possessions that we be- 
gin to find out their value (Schopen- 
hauer), 444. 

Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich. Quintus 
Fixlein's " Rules of Life," 426. 

Ridicule. — Sarcasm. — Satire. — Raillery; 
Mocks follow them that delight therein 
(Wyatt), 233 ; Be not scurrilous in con- 
versation nor satirical in jests (Bur- 
leigh), 243 ; Let your mirth be void of 
scurrility and biting words. ... A 
wound by a word often harder of cure 
than that given with the sword (Sidney), 
246 ; Jest not openly at those that are 



492 



INDEX 



simple (Raleigh), 255; Let wit rather 
serve for a buckler to defend than a 
sword to wound (Osborne), 295. 

Righteousness. — Rectitude. — Upright- 
ness : He that walketh uprightly (Psalm), 
46, 410 ; The Lord blesseth the habitation 
of the righteous. . . . Righteousness de- 
li vereth from death. . . . The tongue of 
the righteous is as choice silver. . . . 
The righteous shall nourish as the green 
leaf (Proverbs), 50, 52, 53 ; Blessed are 
they that hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness. ... Do not your righteous- 
ness before men (Jesus), 130, 132 ; Live 
that thy deeds be so rightful that no 
man shall blame them with reason (Wy- 
clif), 196 ; Join gospel righteousness 
with legal right (Browne), 301 ; There is 
no such thing as a venial sin against mo- 
rality (Halifax), 314 ; Resolutions to 
strive for a life of strict righteousness 
(Edwards), 366-374. See, also, Good, 
Goodness, Honesty, Justice. 

Robbery. See Theft. 

Rochefoucauld, Duke de la. Selections 
from Sentences and Moral Maxims, 310. 

Rudeness. See Courtesy. 



Sabbath. See Religious injunctions. 

Saint Louis. Instructions to his son, 174. 

Scandal : Publish not scandal (Thomas a 
Kempis), 203. See, also, Gossip, Speech. 

Schopenhauer, Arthur. Selections from 
" Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life," 
441. 

Scorn. See Pride. 

Secrets : Disclose not the secrets of an- 
other (Proverbs), 56 ; If you know any- 
thing you wish to conceal, tell it by no 
means to your wife (Mediaeval precept), 
179 ; What I would have kept as secrets 
I tell to nobody (Erasmus), 212 ; Keep 
secret what thou hearest (Mexican pre- 
cept), 224 ; It is wise not to seek a se- 
cret ; honest not to reveal one (Penn), 
327, 331 ; Trust neither fools, knaves, 
women, or young men with secrets 
(Chesterfield), 360-361. 

Self-communion, Meditation : Better to 
converse more with yourself than with 
others (Pythagoras), 91 ; Have you 
known how to meditate and manage 
your life ? you have performed the 
greatest work (Montaigne), 250 ; Let your 
meditation always be systematic (Fe"ne- 



lon), 343 ; Resolutions for self-commu- 
nion (Edwards), 368-372; The happy 
man ... in contemplation is his bliss 
(Cowper), 394. 

Self-conceit. See Vanity. 

Self-control. — Equanimity. — Serenity. — 
Calmness. — Tranquillity : He that rul- 
eth his spirit is better than he that tak- 
eth a city (Proverbs), 6 ; The doctrine 
of self-control in ancient morals, 6-8; 
Keep thyself calm when contradicted. 
... Be not of an irritable temper. . . . 
He who agitates himself all day long has 
not a good moment (Ptah-hotep), 33, 36, 
38 ; E'en as a driver checks his restive 
steeds . . . restrain thy passions. . . . 
The man who keeps his senses in control 
gains all the fruit of holy study. . . „ 
Self-subjugation included in the tenfold 
summary of duty (Manu), 66, 69, 70; 
Self-control, . . . self-restraint and pur- 
ity, the greatest blessing. . . . The 
mind that shaketh not, without grief or 
passion, is the greatest blessing (Bud- 
dha), 79, 80; He who lives without 
looking for pleasures, his senses well 
controlled, Mara will not overthrow. 
. . . Self is the lord of self (Dhamma- 
pada), 82, 83 ; No one is free who has not 
the empire of himself (Pythagoras), 92; 
Practice sobriety and self-control (Maha- 
bharata), 98 ; Be tranquil in works and 
words (Ahikar), 104 ; Habits of per- 
fected self-mastery are spoiled by excess 
and defect (Aristotle), 108, 109 ; Tran- 
quillity renders life happy (Cicero), 127 ; 
Suppose that only to be your own which 
is your own [in your own power] (Epicte- 
tus), 150 ; Live a rightful life . . . ruling 
well thy five senses (Wyclif), 196 ; He 
that resisteth evil inclinations in their 
birth shall more easily destroy them 
when their roots are deep (Thomas a 
Kempis), 203 ; Never to have a violent 
aversion or fondness for anything (Eras- 
mus), 213 ; Grandeur of soul consists in 
knowing how to govern and circum- 
scribe itself. . . . Have you known how 
to take repose ? You have done more 
than he who has taken cities (Mon- 
taigne), 250 ; In discovering your pas- 
sions, give not way in little (Essex- 
Bacon), 274 ; Happy is he . . . whose 
passions not his masters are (Wotton), 
282; Overcome your antipathies. . . . 
Be master of yourself if you would be 



INDEX 



493 



master of others (Gracian), 285 ; Aim at 
conquering rather desires than fortune 
(Descartes), 297 ; Give no quarter unto 
those vices which are of thy inward 
family (Browne), 303 ; Resolutions for 
self-control (Edwards), 368-372; It be- 
seemeth not man to allow himself to be 
ruled by mere instinct (Goethe), 414; 
The passions may all become iunocent if 
well directed (Joubert), 418 ; A power 
which is our human nature's highest 
dower (Wordsworth), 429 ; A little self- 
control at the right moment may pre- 
vent much subsequent compulsion (Scho- 
penhauer), 444. See, also, Self-improve- 
ment, Anger, Passions, Fortitude, Self- 
watchfulness. 

Self-defence. See Retaliation. 

Self-esteem. See Self-respect, Self-know- 
ledge, Self-reliance, Vanity. 

Self-examination : Plan for systematic 
self-examination (Franklin), 379-384 ; 
Inspect the neighborhood of thy life 
(Richter), 427; Ask thyself first: 
Wherein am I most faulty ? . . . Then 
inquire : whence comes this defect ? 
(Zschokke), 433. See, also, Self-know- 
ledge. 

Self-improvement : Blow off the impurities 
of self one by one, little by little (Dham- 
mapada), 84; A man may mend his 
faults with as little labor as cover them 
(Essex-Bacon), 271 ; If we would amend 
the world we should amend ourselves 
(Penn), 328 ; On the overcoming of 
faults (Zschokke), 432 ; I know of no 
more encouraging fact than the unques- 
tionable ability of man to elevate his 
life by a conscious endeavor (Thoreau), 
462. 

Self - knowledge. — Self - examination : 
Know thyself (Chilo), 76 : Examine thy- 
self by thyself (Dhammapada), 84 ; With 
reverence at thy own tribunal stand. 
. . . Tou are furious and insane in pro- 
portion as you are ignorant of yourself 
(Pythagoras), 89-91 ; Next to the know- 
ledge of others comes the knowledge of 
self. But it is not enough for a man only 
to know himself (Bacon), 266, 267 ; Know 
your pet faults (Gracian), 2S6 ; Read not 
books alone, but men, chiefly thyself 
(Quarles), 290; Study thyself betimes 
and early find what nature bids thee to 
be (Browne), 301 ; Resolutions for self- 
examination (Edwards), 368-372 ; Learn 



to know yourself, not by contemplation, 
but action (Goethe), 413 ; More skillful 
in self-knowledge (Wordsworth), 429. 
Self-praise. See Vanity. 
Self - reliance. — Self - confidence. — Self- 
containment. — Independence : Depend 
not on another. . . . Never despise 
thyself. . . . Think not on destiny, but 
act thyself (Manu), 68, 69; Rouse thy- 
self by thyself (Dhammapada), 84; To 
depend on oneself and on Divinity Is 
alone stable (Pythagoras), 93 ; Give 
not thy son . . . brother . . . friend 
power over thee (Ecclesiasticus), 124 ; 
Happy is he . . . that serveth not an- 
other's will (Wotton), 282; Have but 
little to do and do it thyself ... Be not 
tied to things without you. . . . Be free ; 
live at home, in yourselves (Penn), 328, 
332 ; Have the courage to be independ- 
ent (Stanislaus), 359; Never trouble 
another for what you can do yourself 
(Jefferson), 411 ; Live with the world 
whoso hath nerve to make the world his 
purpose serve (Goethe), 416; Gather 
gear . . . for the glorious privilege of 
being independent (Burns), 422. 

Self-respect. — Self-esteem : The soul is its 
own witness. . . . Grieve thou not thy 
soul (Manu), 66; Let reverence of thy- 
self thy thoughts control (Pythagoras), 
87 ; People take a man at his own esti- 
mate ; but he must estimate himself at 
something (Goethe), 415. 

Self -watchfulness : If a man holds himself 
dear let him watch himself carefully 
(Dhammapada), 83 ; A watch over the 
senses is the foundation of purity, the 
discipline of peace (Thomas a Kempis), 
203 ; Never open the door to an evil, 
however small (Gracian), 285; Resolu- 
tions for self-watchfulness (Edwards), 
368-372. See, also, Self-control. 

Selfishness : If self the wavering balance 
shake, it 's rarely right adjusted (Burns), 
421. 

Seneca : Rules for a happy life, 138. 

Sensuality. See Chastity. 

Serenity. See Self-control, Equanimity. 

Seriousness. See Earnestness. 

Sermon on the Mount, The, 17, 130. 

Servants, Treatment of : Command only 
to direct (Ptah-hotep), 3S ; The wages 
shall not abide with thee (Leviticus), 44 ; 
Be not as a lion in thy house. . . . Let 
thy soul love a good servant (Ecclesiasti- 



494 



INDEX 



cus), 115, 118 ; Keep rather two too 
few than one too many (Burleigh), 241 ; 
If thou wouldst have a good servant, let 
thy servant find a wise master (Quarles), 
291 ; Servants may be looked upon as 
humble friends (Halifax), 317 ; Towards 
servants, never accustom yourself to 
rough and passionate language (Chat- 
ham), 392. 

Servility. See Flattery. 

Seven wise men of Greece, 76. 

Shakespeare. Advice of Polonius to La- 
ertes, 281. 

Shame. — Shamelessness : Life is easy for a 
man without shame (Dhammapada), 84 ; 
Commit no sin through shame (Spirit of 
Wisdom), 164. See, also, Fame. 

Sidney, Sir Henry : Letter to his son, Sir 
Philip, 245. 

Silence. See Speech. 

Simplicity : How few the things are that 
give a life which flows in quiet like the 
existence of the gods ! . . . Do what is 
necessary, . . . the greatest part of what 
we say and do being unnecessary (Mar- 
cus Aurelius), 158, 159 ; The simplicity 
of the life of the happy man described 
(Cowper), 394 ; Let your affairs be as two 
or three, and not a hundred or a thou- 
sand. . . . Simplify, simplify (Thoreau), 
463. 

Sincerity. — Candor. — Duplicity. — Pre- 
judice : The superior man is anxious 
that his speech be sincere (Confucius), 
102 ; Examine the word in thy heart and 
then utter it (Ahikar), 104 ; Let thy word 
be the same. . . . Let thy life be sincere 
(Ecclesiasticus), 116; To thine own self 
be true. . . . Thou canst not then be 
false to any man (Shakespeare), 281 ; 
Happy is he . . . whose armor is his hon- 
est thought, and simple truth, &c. (Wot- 
ton), 282 ; Sincerity is an opening of the 
heart ; we find it in few (La Rochefou- 
cauld), 310 ; Nothing needs a trick but a 
trick ; sincerity loathes one (Penn), 329 ; 
Have the courage to admit that you have 
been wrong (Stanislaus), 357 ; Think in- 
nocently and justly ; speak accordingly 
(Franklin), 378, 379, 384 ; If obliged to 
differ, do it with all possible candor. 
. . . Warning against obstinate adher- 
ence to false notions only because one 
has declared for them (Chatham), 388, 
389 ; To think what we do not feel is to 
lie to oneself (Joubert), 419 ; Be without 



guile, take men as they are (Zschokke), 
435. See, also, Earnestness, Falsehood, 
Hypocrisy. 

Sinfulness. See Wickedness. 

Skepticism : Buddhistic command against, 
79. 

Slander. — Evil-speaking. — Backbiting. — 
Detraction : He that slandereth not 
(Psalm), 46, 410 ; He that uttereth a 
slander is a fool (Proverbs), 52 ; Buddhis- 
tic command against slander, 79 ; Keep 
thy tongue from evil speaking (Ahikar), 
104 ; Every other demon attacks in the 
front, but Slander (Spirit of Wisdom), 
164 ; Let no one before thee speak evil 
of others behind their backs (St. Louis), 
175 ; Beware of speaking evil (Wyclif), 
197 ; Forbear to speak evil of men, 
though it be true (Raleigh), 255 ; It is a 
more dextrous error to speak well of an 
evil man than ill of a good man (Quarles), 
291 ; Abhor detraction, the sin of fallen 
angels (Penn), 333 ; Resolved, never to 
speak evil of any one (Edwards), 367, 
369 ; Let your conversation be without 
malice. . . . Speak not injurious words 
(Washington), 403, 404. 

Sleep : How long, O sluggard ? . . . Love 
not sleep, lest thou come to poverty 
(Proverbs), 51, 55 ; The sleep of a labor- 
ing man is sweet (Ecclesiastes), 59 ; 
Practice not slothful sleep (Spirit of Wis- 
dom), 164 ; Give not thyself to slumber 
(Mexican precept), 227 ; Let the end of 
thy first sleep raise thee from repose 
(Quarles), 290 ; If you do not rise early 
you can never make any progress (Chat- 
ham), 387. 

Sluggishness. See Sleep, Industry. 

Social Relationships. See Neighbors, Com- 
panions, Friendship, Privacy, Fame, 
Reputation, Honors, Courtesy, Manners, 
Familiarity, Benevolence, Giving. 

Socrates, 13. 

Solon, Saying of, 76. 

Sorrow: Sorrow is better than laughter. 
. . . Better to go to the house of mourn- 
ing than to the house of feasting (Eccle- 
siastes), 59 ; Blessed are they that mourn 
(Jesus), 130. See, also, Afflictions. 

Soul, The : There resides within thee a 
Being who inspects thy every act. . . . 
The soul is its own witness ; . . . grieve 
thou not thy soul (Mauu), 66 ; Let no 
example, ... no soothing tongue, pre- 
vail upon thee ... to do thy soul's 



INDEX 



495 



immortal essence wrong. ... In all 
things guard thy soul from wrong. . . . 
The Divinity has not a place more allied 
to his nature than a pure soul (Pytha- 
goras), 88, 89, 94 ; In every good work 
trust thy own soul. . . . Prove thy soul 
in thy life (Ecclesiasticus), 124. 
Speech. — Language. — Words. — Talk- 
ativeness. — Reticence : Do not repeat 
extravagances of language ; nor scatter 
thy words ; nor speak with heat. . . . 
Let thoughts be abundant and mouth 
under restraint (Ptah-hotep), 37, 38, 40 ; 
In a multitude of words there wanteth 
not transgression. . . . He that spareth 
his words hath knowledge. ... A fool 
when he holdeth his peace is counted 
wise. ... A word fitly spoken is like 
apples of gold, &c. (Proverbs), 52, 54, 
56 ; Be not rash with thy mouth (Eccle- 
siastes), 58 ; Pleasant speech the greatest 
blessing (Buddha), 79 ; Be not hasty in 
thy tongue, and in thy deeds slack. . . . 
Honor and shame is in talk. . . . Strive 
not with a man that is full of tongue. 
. . . Learn before thou speak. ... He 
that can rule his tongue shall live with- 
out strife. . . . To slip upon a pavement 
better than to slip with the tongue. . . . 
Not so many have fallen by the sword as 
by the tongue. . . . Weigh thy words 
in a balance (Ecclesiasticus), 115, 116, 
119, 121, 122; Be for the most part 
silent (Epictetus), 152 ; Be not a man of 
many words (Marcus Aurelius), 158 ; 
Measure your words with judgment. . . . 
Speak as one who seeketh to learn, and 
not as eager for victory. . . . Keep a 
bridle upon your tongue (Maimonides), 
166; He that keeps strict silence shall 
not offend. . . . Blessed is the pru- 
dent tongue (Thomas a Kempis), 202, 
203, 204; Abstain ever from words of 
ribaldry. . . . Love rather words profit- 
able than eloquent and pleasant ; right 
words than flattering (Rhodes), 206 ; 
Great part of quarrels come from in- 
temperance of the tongue (Erasmus), 
212 ; Keep silence ; nothing is gained by 
talking (Mexican precept), 225 ; Be 
rather a hearer. . . . Think upon every 
word. . . . Remember how nature hath 
ramparted up the tongue with teeth, 
lips, &c. (Sidney), 247 ; He that is lavish 
in words is a niggard in deeds (Raleigh), 
256; Give thy thoughts no tongue. . . . 



Give every man thine ear, but few thy 
voice (Shakespeare), 281 ; What is well 
said is soon said (Graciau), 286 ; If thou 
desire to be held wise, be so wise as to 
hold thy tongue (Quarles), 291 ; A man 
strictly wise can hardly be called a so- 
ciable creature (Halifax), 315 ; If thou 
thinkest twice before thou speakest once, 
thou wilt speak twice the better (Penn), 
327, 330,331, 334 ; Have courage to speak 
when necessary and to hold your tongue 
when it is better (Stanislaus), 357 ; Of 
much speaking cometh repentance 
(Chesterfield), 363 ; Speak not but what 
may benefit others or yourself (Franklin), 
377, 379 ; Be a patient, attentive, and 
well-bred hearer. . . . Dedicate the first 
parts of life more to hear and to learn 
(Chatham), 388 ; Think before you speak 
(Washington), 404 ; Be a listener. . . . 
Endeavor to establish the habit of silence 
(Jefferson), 409 ; Keep something to 
yoursel, ye scarcely tell to ony (Burns), 
421. See, also, Geniality, Conversation, 
Gossip, Scandal, Doing. 

Spendthrift ways. See Expenditure. 

Spirit of Wisdom, Opinions of the, 163. 

Squandering. See Expenditure. 

Stage, The : Abstain from stage plays 
(Buddhist commandments), 78. 

Stanislaus, King of Poland : Traits of moral 
courage in every-day life, 356. 

"Stanspuer ad mensam," 180. 

Steadfastness. See Firmness. 

Stinginess. See Giving. 

Stoic morality, 13-15. 

Strife. See Contention. 

Stubbornness. — Obstinacy : A stubborn 
heart shall fare evil (Ecclesiasticus), 
114. See, also, Firmness. 

Study. See Education, Books. 

Success. — Failure. — Mistakes : People 
make no mistakes who never wish to do 
anything worth doing (Goethe), 415 ; 
They wha fa' in fortune's strife, their 
fate we should na censure (Burns), 421. 

Suffolk, William de la Pole, Duke of. Let- 
ter to his son, 200. 

Sullenness. See Good Nature. 

Surety, Giving : Warnings against (Pro- 
verbs), 50, 51, 52, 55 ; (Thales), 76 ; 
(Ecclesiasticus), 119, 123; (Burleigh), 
242 ; (Raleigh), 257 ; (Osborne), 294. 

Surrey, Earl of. Translation from Martial) 
143. 

Suspicion. See Trust. 



496 



INDEX 



Swetchine, Madame. Selections from 
" Airelles " and "Thoughts," 437. 

Swift, Jonathan. On good manners, 348. 

Sympathy : If thou hast any sorrow, tell it 
to thy confessor, or to some discreet 
man (St. Louis), 175 ; He shall be sure 
of shame that feeleth no grief in other 
men's shames (Wyatt), 233. 

System. See Order. 

Table manners, Mediaeval, 180. 

Talebearing. See Gossip. 

Talkativeness. See Speech. 

Taste : Be common in nothing, above all 
not in taste (Gracian), 285 ; A man that 
has a taste of music, painting, and archi- 
tecture is like one that has another sense 
(Addison), 355. See, also, Refinement. 

Teachableness: Train thy son to be a 
teachable man (Ptah-hotep) 39 The fool- 
ish despise instruction (Proverbs), 48 ; 
From the experience of others learn wis- 
dom (Chesterfield), 363. See, also, Edu- 
cation. 

Teachers, Conduct towards. See Elders. 

Teaching. See Education. 

Temper, 111 : See Anger, Good nature. 

Temperance (in eating and drinking). — 
Intemperance. — Drunkenness. — Glut- 
tony : Wine is a mocker. ... Be not 
among winebibbers. . . . Look not upon 
the wine (Proverbs), 55, 56 ; Drink thy 
wine with a merry heart (Ecclesiastes), 
61 ; Honor thy food ; . . . avoid excess 
(Manu), 67 ; One should not become a 
drinker of intoxicating liquors. . . . 
Abstinence from strong drink, the great- 
est blessing (Buddha), 78, 80 ; The 
strength of the soul is temperance (Py- 
thagoras), 93 ; Injunctions for keeping 
the mean between excess and defect (Ar- 
istotle), 108 ; Take not pleasure in much 
good cheer (Ecclesiasticus), 121 ; Eat 
and drink to quench the desires of na- 
ture (Seneca), 142 ; If thou findest any- 
thing better than temperance, &c, turn 
to it (Marcus Aurelius), 158, 159; Eat that 
ye may live. ... Be careful in taking 
wine (Maimonides), 169 ; The flesh is 
tempted by delicious meats and drinks 
(La Tour), 190 ; Take meat and drink in 
measure (Wyclif), 195 ; Consider to thy- 
self what nature requireth. . . . Eat 
without surfeit. Drink without drunken- 
ness (Rhodes), 205 ; Banish swinish 
drunkards out of thine house (Burleigh), 



240 ; Use moderate diet. . . , Seldom 
drink wine (Sidney), 246; There never 
was any man came to honor that loved 
wine (Raleigh), 257 ; Without know- 
ledge there can be no temperance (Essex- 
Bacon), 275 ; Drunkenness makes way 
for all vices (Quarles), 292 ; Be sober 
and temperate, that you may truly 
serve God, which you cannot well do 
without health (Browne), 299, 300 ; It is 
a piece of arrogance to dare to be drunk 
(Halifax), 316 ; Resolved to maintain the 
strictest temperance (Edwards), 368, 370; 
Eat not to dullness ; drink not to eleva- 
tion (Franklin), 377, 379, 380, 381 ; Avoid 
taverns, drinkers, smokers etc. . . . We 
never repent of having eaten too little 
(Jefferson), 409, 411 ; Temperance is the 
third cardinal virtue (Lacordaire), 452. 
See, also, Bodily Care. 

Temperance (in the larger sense). See 
Moderation. 

Temptation : If sinners entice thee con- 
sent not (Proverbs), 48 ; Be well occu- 
pied, and no time idle, for the danger of 
temptation (Wyclif), 195 ; More pure, 
as tempted more (Wordsworth), 429 ; 
Never place thyself in the way of temp- 
tation in order to test thy strength 
(Zschokke), 434 ; Tempt no man, lest 
thou fall for it (Perm), 329. 

Ten commandments. See Religious in- 
junctions. 

Thales, saying of, 76. 

Thankfulness. See Gratitude. 

Theatre. See Stage. 

Theft : Thou shalt not steal (Decalogue), 
42 ; Te shall not steal (Leviticus), 44 ; 
If sinners entice thee consent not (Pro- 
verbs), 48 ; One should not take that 
which is not given (Buddha), 78 ; Com- 
bine to put an end to thefts (Confucius), 
101 ; Whether it be gold or little things 
that one steals, the punishment is the 
same (Ahikar), 104. See, also, Honesty. 

Thomas a Kempis. Selections from " The 
Little Garden of Roses," 202. 

Thoreau, Henry David : On the making 
of life deliberate and simple, 30, 462. 

Thoughtlessness. See Earnestness, Pru- 
dence. 

Thoughts : Keep thought away from evil. 
. . . Let no man think lightly of evil 
(Dhammapada), 82, 83 ; The soul is 
dyed by the thoughts (Marcus Aurelius), 
160 ; The hours of a wise man are length- 



INDEX 



497 



ened by his ideas (Addison), 355 ; All 
that is wise has been thought already ; 
we must try, however, to think it again 
(Goethe), 413. 

Thrift. —Economy : He that gathereth in 
summer is a wise son. . . . He that loveth 
pleasure shall be a poor man (Proverbs), 
51, 55 ; If with a little thou a little blend 
continual, mighty shall the heap ascend 
(Hesiod), 75 ; Prize economy (Confucius), 
101 ; Better garner with poverty than 
squander with riches (Ahikar), 104 ; He 
that spendeth much and getteth nought, 
may be sorry, &c. (Rhodes), 208; Buy 
when the markets and seasons serve 
fittest (Burleigh), 241. See, also, Indus- 
try, Expenditure. 

Time : Undertake nothing which of neces- 
sity takes up a great quantity of time 
(Bacon), 2G9; Misspending time is a 
kind of self-homicide (Halifax), 31G ; 
Divide your day. . . . Save a treasure of 
time to yourself (Penn), 333 ; The cause 
of all evils amongst men is the improper 
use of time (Massillon), 345 ; Employ 
the present without regretting the loss 
of the past, or too much depending on 
the time to come (Chesterfield), 3G2 ; 
Resolved never to lose one moment (Ed- 
wards), 366 ; Lose no time (Franklin), 
378 ; Never put off till to-morrow what 
you can do to-day (Jefferson), 411 ; It is 
for the past and the future we must 
work. . . . Use well the moment, &c. 
(Goethe), 416, 417 ; Ordinary people 
think how they shall spend their time ; 
a man of intellect tries to use it (Scho- 
penhauer), 441 ; Time is but the stream 
I go a-fishing in (Thoreau), 464. See, 
also, Life, Pleasure, Punctuality, Indus- 
try. 

Tobacco : Have the courage to throw your 
snuff-box into the fire (Stanislaus), 359. 

Tolerance : I let every one enjoy his 
opinion (Erasmus), 212 ; When I hear 
another express an opinion which is not 
mine, I say to myself, ho has a right, 
&c. (Jefferson), 408 ; Let us have heart 
and head hospitality (Joubert), 419. 

Tongue, The. See Speech. 

Tranquillity. See Equanimity, Self-con- 
trol. 

Travel : I can see more in histories than 
if I had rambled for twenty years (Eras- 
mus), 215 ; Suffer not thy sons to pass 
the Alps (Burleigh), 241 ; Let not your 



minds be carried away with vain delights, 
as with traveling into strange countries 
(Lyly), 260 ; Study what use to make of 
travel (Essex-Bacon), 270, 273. 

Treachery. See Fidelity. 

Triumph. See Contention. 

Triviality : Those who bestow too much on 
trifling things become incapable of great 
ones. . . . Little minds are too much 
hurt by little things (La Rochefoucauld), 
310, 311 ; A man shows his character in 
the way in which he deals with trifles 
(Schopenhauer), 444 ; Our life is frit- 
tered away by detail (Thoreau), 463. 

Trust. — Faith. — Distrust. — Credulity. — 
Suspicion : Not e'en thy brother on his 
word believe. . . . Mistrust destroys us, 
and credulity (Hesiod), 75; Open not 
thy heart to every man (Ecclesiasticus), 
119 ; Never put your trust in a stranger 
(Mediaeval precept), 178 ; Be not light of 
credence, nor suspicious (Rhodes), 207 ; 
Trust not any man with thy life, credit, 
or estate (Burleigh), 243 ; Mistrust no 
man without cause, neither be credulous 
without proof (Lyly), 262 ; Do not be- 
lieve and do not love lightly (Gracian), 
286 ; Make writing the witness of your 
contracts (Osborne), 294 ; It is more dis- 
graceful to distrust friends than to be 
deceived (La Rochefoucauld), 311 ; Only 
trust thyself. ... Be not too credulous 
(Penn), 327, 331, 335; Trust no man 
until thou hast tried him ; yet mistrust 
not without reason (Chesterfield), 363 ; 
Mankind are unco weak, an' little to be 
trusted (Burns), 421. See, also, Anx- 
iety. 

Truth. — Truthfulness. See Falsehood. 

Unbelief. See Skepticism. 

Understanding : Praise of (Proverbs), 49. 

Uprightness. See Righteousness, Hon- 
esty. 

Use. See Habit. 

Usefulness : No respect is lasting but that 
produced by being useful (Halifax), 316. 

Usury : He that putteth not out his money 
to usury (Psalm), 46, 411. 

Utilitarian morality, 14. 

Vanity. — Self-conceit. — Self-praise. — 
Boasting : Let another man praise thee 
(Proverbs), 57 ; In conversation, avoid ex- 
cessive mention of your own actions and 
dangers (Epictetus), 153 ; Never speak 



498 



INDEX 



of yourself (Gracian), 286; Beware of 
thinking yourself wiser or greater than 
you are (Osborne), 294 ; Measure not 
thyself by thy morning shadow, but by 
the extent of thy grave. . . . Become 
not thy own parasite. . . . Busy not thy 
best member in the encomium of thyself 
(Browne), 303, 304 ; Vanity is never at 
its full growth till it spreadeth into af- 
fectation (Halifax), 319 ; A man ought 
not to value himself of his achievements, 
&c. (Washington), 403 ; Let no one 
think that people have waited for him 
as for the Saviour (Goethe), 416 ; Our 
vanity is the constant enemy of our 
dignity (Swetchine), 437. 

Veneration. See Filial Duty, Elders, Au- 
thority, Honor, Religious Injunctions. 

Venturing. See Prudence. 

Vice. See Virtue, Chastity. 

Victory. See Contention. 

Violence. See Murder, Theft, Oppres- 
sion, Cruelty. 

Virtue : When passing te [the future 
world] . . . virtue will thy only com- 
rade be. . . . Virtue alone stays by 
[one] at the tomb (Manu), 68 ; Steep the 
ascent and rough the road [to where 
Virtue dwells] (Hesiod), 72 ; By virtu- 
ous use thy life and manners frame. 
... It is impossible to receive any gift 
greater than virtue (Pythagoras), 89, 
91 ; Virtue is a mean state between two 
faulty states, of excess and defect (Aris- 
totle), 110 ; Every virtue has its par- 
ticular sweetness (Thomas a Kempis), 
202 ; Endeavor to excel in virtue, seeing 
in qualities of body we are inferior to 
beasts (Lyly), 262 ; Pursue virtue vir- 
tuously. . . . Endeavor to make virtues 
heroical. . . . Make not the conse- 
quences of virtue the ends thereof 
(Browne), 299, 300, 301 ; Plan for ac- 
quiring habits of virtue (Franklin), 376 ; 
All the virtues originate in actual wants ; 
all the vices in factitious ones (Swetch- 
ine), 437 ; The four cardinal virtues 
(Lacordaire), 452. See, also, Good, Good- 
ness, Righteousness, Chastity. 

Vows : Pay that which thou vowest (Eccle- 
siastes), 58. 

Want. See Riches. 

Washington, George. Letters of advice 

to his nephews, and Rules of Civility, 

398, 402. 



Wastefulness. See Expenditure. 

Wealth. See Riches. 

Welsh Triads, 171. 

Wickedness. -- - Sinfulness. — Iniquity : A 
wicked man is loathsome. . . . Wicked- 
ness overthroweth the sinner. ... The 
lamp of the wicked shall be put out 
(Proverbs), 53; Bad men are the most 
rife (Bias), 76 ; It shall not be well with 
the wicked (Ecclesiastes), 60 ; None sees 
us, say the sinful ; . . . the gods see 
them, and the omniscient spirit within 
their breasts. . . . The god of justice 
and the heart itself. . . . Iniquity fails 
not to yield its fruit (Manu), 66, 67; 
Smooth is the track [to the mansion of 
Sin] (Hesiod), 72; To cease from sin, 
the greatest blessing (Buddha), 80. 

Wife. See Marriage. 

Willingness : Nothing is troublesome that 
we do willingly (Jefferson), 411. 

Wisdom : The attributes of a wise man 
(Ptah-hotep), 39 ; Praise of wisdom 
(Proverbs), 49-53; Wisdom is as good 
as an inheritance. . . . Wisdom is a 
defence (Ecclesiastes), 60; Worthless 
he that Wisdom's voice defies (Hesiod), 
72 ; The wise man is alone a priest 
(Pythagoras), 90 ; Search for wisdom as 
for silver (Maimonides), 166 ; Three 
things produce wisdom : truth, consid- 
eration, and suffering (Welsh Triad), 
172 ; Be desirous of wisdom and apt to 
learn it (Rhodes), 208 ; Rather go a hun- 
dred miles to speak with a wise man 
than five to see a fair town (Essex-Ba- 
con), 278 ; Follow not the tedious prac- 
tice of such as seek wisdom only in learn- 
ing (Osborne), 294 ; God send you speed, 
still daily to grow wiser (Burns), 423. 
See also, Knowledge, Teachableness, 
Education. 

Words. See Speech. 

Wordsworth, William. Character of the 
Happy Warrior, 429. 

Work. See Industry. 

Worry. See Anxiety. 

Wotton, Sir Henry. The Happy Life, 282. 

Wrath. See Anger. 

Wright, Thomas. On mediaeval precepts, 
178. 

Wyatt, Sir Thomas. Letters to his son, 
230. 

Wyclif. Short rule of life, 194. 

Youth. — Old Age. — Growing old : Re- 



INDEX 



499 



joice, young man, in thy youth. . . . 
Remember thy Creator (Ecclesiastes), 
G2 ; One must do more, when old than 
when young. . . . Errors are not of 
much consequence in youth. . . . One 
need only grow old to become gentler in 



judgment (Goethe), 414, 415; Youth 
should be a savings-bank (Swetchiue), 
438. 



Zschokke, Johann Heinrich Daniel, 
the overcoming of faults, 432. 



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